


Gems are Unbreakable

by BlackMageofPhantasm



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon), ジョジョの奇妙な冒険 | JoJo no Kimyou na Bouken | JoJo's Bizarre Adventure
Genre: Adventure, Character Death, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Crossover, Drama, Gen, Higashikata Josuke Poses A Lot, Kira Yoshikage Is A Manipulative Bastard, Kira Yoshikage Poses A Lot, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-17
Updated: 2018-09-30
Packaged: 2019-04-03 15:34:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 16
Words: 266,557
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13999191
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlackMageofPhantasm/pseuds/BlackMageofPhantasm
Summary: Steven Universe and the Gems have saved the world so many times in the past, but now a new monster is rising in their town. Steven has to face off against a man unlike any opponent he has battled against so far. And what does a purple-haired teenager have to do with any of this? Steven doesn't know, but one thing's certain. He'll need everyone's help if he wants to save his home.





	1. The Start of a Bizarre Adventure

Two men stared at one another with such intensity it would make others cower. Although it was no longer raining, there was a different kind of storm happening in front of an empty house in the city of Morioh.

One was a tall, muscular teenager with purple pompadour-esque hair, one hand clutching his bloody arm. He wore a dark blue Japenese school uniform and had two golden stud earrings in both ears. On his collar, he had a golden, small, metallic anchor emblem on the left side and two equally golden hearts on his right. The topmost buttons on his jacket were undone, pinned on the right side of his open jacket was another golden heart and a gold colored peace sign pinned the left side, revealing a light green t-shirt underneath. His pants were the same shade of blue as his jacket and on his feet were stylish dress shoes that cost a small fortune. Two gold bands were located on his wrist, circling on top his sleeve to complete his outfit.

Though, right now, most would not be able to appreciate the young man's fashion choices, as they would be too distracted by the blood dripping from seemingly everywhere on the man's body. His face had deep gashes surrounding every inch of it, the left side of his body was bleeding profusely as the man found his left arm incredibly difficult to move. The reason being was because there was a broken piece of stair railing lodged deeply within it, and another jagged piece of wood pierced his hip, making each step even more painful when added with all his other injuries.

This man's name was Josuke Higashikta, and right now he was not concerned about his wounds. His entire focus was on the man, no, the psychotic bastard he had been fighting in a vicious battle to the death.

And the other fighter, who was only a few feet away from Josuke on the brown pavement, was a fully grown adult male. He was tall and had an athletic build, wearing a simple light purple jacket, and underneath he had on a green undershirt with yellow pinstripes moving down his shirt. His hair was a was a light black, with only a few strands truly being dark, and was perfectly combed back. His pants were just as purple as his suit, and he had on a pair of dark black shoes that looked well shined. A dark black tie was clipped neatly to his shirt, and in the tie, there was a column of skulls with upright, almost catlike ears.

At first glance, the person in front of Josuke looked like a salesperson, a simple and ordinary man just like anyone in his town. However, once someone looked into his eyes, they would see something dark and unfeeling within the man. To Josuke, he could almost feel the murderous rage radiating from the man's glare; his cold, dark black pupils seemed to hold a darkness that threatened to consume Josuke should he let his guard down even for a moment. Josuke knew that this seemingly average man could kill him and would if he made even one mistake. Adding the fact that blood was dripping from the man's back, chest and especially down his face, the man in front of Josuke was more than just menacing, looking more like the unholy demon that hid underneath a facade of normality that he truly was.

This monster's name was Kira Yoshikage, and Josuke had finally cornered him.

Josuke had seen first hand the despicable deeds this bastard had done since he first started tracking him down, and he would stop him here and now. He would not let this man walk away after killing all the innocent people in his home, after murdering his friend, he would make sure this bastard would pay for what he did.

But he would be lying to himself if he said this battle had been easy because it had been the most painful and challenging battle Josuke had ever fought. Had he not fought against other strong opponents, he would have been dead already. He was also very grateful that Hayato Kawajiri, a boy with shoulder length brown hair and who was the son of the man Kira murdered and stole his face, had been giving him advice and helping him throughout the fight. He might have gotten even more injured had the little kid not been there.

And said injuries were wreaking havoc on Josuke's body. His stomach felt like it had been ripped open, he was choking back on blood he had almost coughed out, and his legs and arms felt like they were made of cement. His vision was getting a little blurry, and the blood dripping down his forehead went into his eyes and stung like hell.

In other words, he felt like dog shit. His muscles were exhausted, screaming at him to stop for just a moment. But Josuke knew he couldn't, not until the bastard in front of him was down for good.

As he glared at the bloody and dangerous killer in front of him, he saw that Kira's breathing was just as labored as his. Josuke could also see that Kira was trying his best not to move his right shoulder, most likely because of the two large holes that Josuke had stabbed into the man. He could tell that they both were close to running out of energy, which only meant one thing.

It was time to end this fight.

"Josuke..." Kira said, blood dripping from his lips as he slowly pronounced his enemy's name. "Higashikata..." With just those two words, Kira was able to vocalize all the hatred and frustration growing within him as the fight progressed. The man's glare could pierce through steel, and Josuke could see through those cold eyes how this man was able to outsmart and almost kill his friends and his family.

The feeling of contempt was mutual, as Josuke also gave Kira his harshest glare before saying three simple words.

"Bring it out."

Because Josuke knew the final act in their battle would not end in a fist fight between them, but instead, would end in a brawl between who could use their abilities to the best.

And without a word, they both reached deeply into their very core and unleashed the energy that had been infused with them for so long. To any random passerby, all they could see were two severely wounded people glaring at each other.

But to a rare few, they would see something spectacular.

A light purple aura surrounded Josuke, growing as he channeled more energy from inside himself. And then, from seemingly nowhere, a humanoid figure floated right next to the purple hand teenager with its arms crossed. It was tall, a full two heads above Josuke, glaring at Kira with light blue eyes. The figure had bulging muscles that made it look like a pro fighter, and had long black cables on its neck that connected to its upper back. Armor like plates covered large portions of its body, especially around both its arms and legs that formed a pair of gauntlets and shin guards. Its skin was bubblegum pink, visible through the gaps between each plate, and on its head was an ancient Greece-like helmet. The helmet also acted as a mask with only its eyes and chin were visible through the headgear. Finally, all over its body were plated heart motifs that were just like Josuke's but silver.

This was Crazy Diamond, Josuke's Stand, a physical manifestation of his life energy, the personification of his very fighting spirit. His Stand had been with him for so long; it was hard to remember a time when he didn't have it. And right now he was glad he had his Stand by his side for this fight.

A dark purple aura whirled around Kira, the energy circling him like a tornado as he clenched his fist. And then a humanoid figure floated right next to the serial killer in the same pose as Josuke's Stand. Its skin was a dull pink, wearing dark, studded, leather forearm length gloves, mirrored in style by a garter belt at its waist and ankle height footwear. Its eyes were cat-like and vertical, and instead of its sclera being white it was pink, and it had single white dots for pupils. The crown of its head was flat, while two sharp, triangle shapes that almost looked like cat ears extending from both sides of its head. Its lips were in a thin line, never opening its mouth even when its monster of a master talked through it.

On its shoulders, the back of its gloves, and on its belt buckle was an emblem of a skull that looked exactly like its face. When considering its muscular body and inhuman face, everything about this being was unsettling. This was Killer Queen, Kira Yoshikage's Stand, and it was a perfect fit for the murderer. It was unfeeling, uncaring, and above all, was a perfect killing machine.

Both Kira and Josuke continued to glare at the other; silence growing with the seconds that passed.

And without a word, the two fighters respective stands charged at one another, shooting through the air like missiles as they followed their users' orders.

Killer Queen moved slightly faster, going under a swift uppercut Crazy Diamond threw and moved even closer to the pink Stand's body, both arms outstretched and palms open trying to touch Crazy Diamond. Josuke knew everything about Kira's Stand, so he was aware that if a single fingertip from the cat-like Stand so much as brushed against Crazy Diamond's or his own body, Killer Queen would turn them into a bomb, and it would be over.

Acting with lightning quick speed, Crazy Diamond slammed the back of its fist into the side of Killer Queen's face, stopping the cat-like Stand's hand from reaching its body. Killer Queen was pushed back a short distance from the strength of the blow as cracks began to form from where Crazy Diamond hit Killer Queen, and then they began to expand across the Stand's face.

"Ugaaaah!" Josuke saw the side of Kira's head exploded in a mountain of blood, a strange dent appearing on his face almost like someone had just hit him. This was the one bad parts of being a Stand User; anything your Stand felt, you felt.

And by God did it feel good to see that bastard bleed.

"Killer Queen!" Kira shouted at his Stand as it floated back towards him before nodding, knowing what it's master wanted to do. Flying once again towards the high school student and his Stand, Killer Queen threw a swift punch at Crazy Diamonds face. Josuke's Stand deflected the punch by hitting Killer Queen's forearm with the back of its fist, sending the punch off course and missing Crazy Diamond by a mile.

Quickly reeling back its long arm, Killer Queen let loose a salvo of rapid palm strikes, but Crazy Diamond was faster. The Stand weaved through each and every blow with precision and grace, even as Killer Queen's attacks grew faster, Crazy Diamond was still able to duck and slip under every punch. Just as Killer Queen launched two more palm strikes, Crazy Diamond hit Killer Queen in its elbows with two powerful punches, the force bending the Stand's arms at an awkward angle.

"Gaaaaaah!" Once again hearing the murderer scream in pain, Josuke saw Kira with one knee on the ground as he coughed up blood. Seeing this as his chance, Josuke had Crazy Diamond strike a heavy and swift left hook into Killer Queen's side. The Stand buckled over, as did its master who coughed up more blood. Josuke knew that Kira and his Stand were on their last legs, barely able to keep up with Crazy Diamond's speed and power.

So it was time to land the finishing blow.

"Ooooooohhhhhhhh!" Josuke screamed a fierce war cry as his Stand charged forward, unleashing a massive volley of fists at high speed.

_Land,_ Josuke thought, praying that Crazy Diamonds fist would hit and end this fight. Kira was out of tricks, out of luck, and literally on his knees; so if his Stand's attacked hit it would be the end of Kira Yoshikage once and for all. It would be the end of the man who hurt so many people just to satisfy his disgusting desires.

_Laaaaaaannnnnnnd!_

Crazy Diamond hit Killer Queen right in its chest with an onslaught of fast and metal crushing fists, each punch slamming into Kira's Stand.

Or, at least, that's what he thought.

Whenever Crazy Diamond hit anyone, Josuke could always feel the sensation of flesh meeting knuckle on his fist, almost like he was the one that had punched someone. Now, though, he didn't feel that impact; instead, it felt like his hand hit something incredibly soft.

It was then Josuke saw something appear from nowhere that made both his and Crazy Diamonds eyes widen. Crazy Diamond's fists had not hit Killer Queen but instead had hit two transparent bubbles, blocking his Stand's punches from connecting. The bubbles themselves looked like they were made out of air, yet were still firm enough to cushion against Crazy Diamonds powerful strikes.

_Air Bullets!?_ But how? Kira had no time to form the balls of thick air; there was no way he could have the time to create them when his Stand had been pummeling him to oblivion.

It was then Josuke heard the soft hiss of a cat, and his eyes traveled down to Killer Queens stomach. Slowly, like a garage door, it opened to reveal its insides were hollow; instead of having organs and blood, all it had was empty space for a gut.

Well, almost empty. For amidst the void that was Killer Queens stomach, Josuke saw a small rosebud with eyes, two big leaves that seemed like arms, and a stem for a body glaring at him. This was Stray Cat, another Stand and Kira's little pet that had been helping him throughout the fight. It had the ability to manipulate air, able to compress the air and turn it into bubbles which Kira would touch with Killer Queen and make it into a bomb. The fact that the bubbles were near impossible to see unless someone was mere inches away made it all the more deadly.

The cat must have thought that Josuke was attacking it, so it released two air bullets to protect itself, unintentionally saving the murderer who was using it as a tool.

"Stray Cat!" He looked up and saw Kira was just as shocked as he was. The killer was looking down at the sentient plant Stand resting in Killer Queens stomach. "You ended up protecting me when you were only interested in saving yourself, but now because of you I can end this!"

_Shit!_ Josuke thought, jumping back as he knew what Kira was about to do. However, his injuries finally caught up with him as he was hit with an agonizing pain that shot up his body. When he landed, he found his legs could no longer hold his weight as he collapsed onto the pavement back first. Crazy Diamond flickered out of existence as Josuke could no longer focus on maintaining his Stand's form.

"Die, Josuke Higashikata!" With a tap of Killer Queens fingers, the air bubble was sent towards Josuke. The moment Kira's Stand touched the bubble, it gained a purple hue before Josuke lost sight of it, becoming too transparent to see which way it went. He wouldn't be able to completely see it until it was right in front of his face, and by then it would be too late.

"Josuke get up!" He heard Hayato shout from behind him, but as much as he wanted to move he couldn't. The pain in his body only grew with each second, unable to move so much as a finger. For an instant, he saw something moving through the air and slowly approaching him, and then it vanished away from his sight. He knew it was the air bubble, and the fact that he was starting to see the ball of air again meant it was getting closer, and he needed to do something now. His legs still refused to budge, so instead, he looked to his side and saw a stray piece of glass lying only a few feet away from him. He knew that while the bubbles were deadly, they were also extremely fragile so popping them was easy if something sharp was used.

Josuke shakily raised his arm, wincing as his limb felt like it was on fire. Once again concentrating on the energy within him, Josuke summoned Crazy Diamond right next to him, or at least the top half of his Stand up to its waist, and attempted to use Crazy Diamond to reach for the broken piece of glass. Josuke saw the bubble reappear, this time even closer, maybe five feet away. Crazy Diamond floated towards the piece of glass, its gauntlet hand only a few inches away. From the corner of his eye, Josuke saw the bubble was even closer now, and just as it disappeared again from his sight, Crazy Diamond was able to grab the piece of glass.

Only for it to fade away as Josuke coughed up thick globs of blood. His stomach suddenly flared with a horrible, burning pain as he held his gut with his arms.

_Damn it, those bomb attacks from before completely fucked me up!_ Josuke looked up and saw the air bullet only centimeters from his face. He didn't have enough time to try and dodge the bubble of air or even call Crazy Diamond to have the Stand try and block it. He could only look on in horror as the bubble was about to crash into his bleeding face.

"It's over!" Kira screamed with absolute delight, a demonic smile spreading across his lips as Killer Queen brought its thumb down on his hand like a detonator.

Josuke saw the air bubble start to swirl, and he felt the bullet scrape and attack his face, causing more blood to fall down from his head. He saw the ball of compressed air beginning to glow a sick red as he closed his eyes and braced for the explosion.

The air bullet went off, and a large explosion traveled and rippled through the pavement, leaving large holes in the ground, yet it did not make a sound despite the size of the explosion. But Josuke did not feel the painful burns from the explosion; because just as the fireball went off, he felt his whole body being dragged backward as if an incredibly strong and invisible cable was pulling it. In the span of one second, his back was leaning against the wall of the abandoned house he and Kira had been fighting a short distance away from.

_What the hell? How did..._  Josuke's thoughts trailed off as he heard footsteps coming from his left; followed by a voice all too familiar to him.

"Phew, that was way too close, Josuke." For a moment, he couldn't believe his ears, sure he was hallucinating at this point. For the voice he heard belonged to a man who was supposed to be dead. "Man, I can't believe some jackass was able to push you so much. Kira must be some terrifying dude."

Slowly, Josuke turned his head and saw a tall and muscular teenager around the same age as him. He had on the exact same uniform as him, with some added features. His jacket was a darker shade of blue then Josuke's and was double breasted. On his right arm, the word "Billions" was written in bold white letters, he had a dollar sign on the left of his collar and on the right side a yen sign. On his waist were two thin, light green, sagging belts and on his chest was a much larger golden dollar sign. His right shoulder had on the kanji for a hundred million. His hair was a dark black, the top part of his head shaped in the same pompadour style as Josuke's, though not nearly as big and rather small, and the hair on the side of his head was well trimmed and combed back. Finally, two scars in the shape of semi-circles traveled from the inner corners of his ears to the center of his face.

Josuke immediately recognized the punk, his eye widening as his mouth dropped to the floor. "O-Okuyasu?!"

"You're alive?!" Hayato shouted, just as shocked, running towards Josuke and Okuyasu. From the corner of his eye, he saw Kira looking on in disbelief as he stood as still as a statue.

"Hell yeah, I'm alive!" Okuyasu replied with a broad smile before his expression became sullen. "But I had the craziest dream. I was walking through the darkness, and then there was this light, and then I saw him..." His voice grew shaky as Josuke saw Okuyasu seemed to be lost in his own thoughts. "I saw my big bro Keicho. He asked me where I was going, and I said, 'I'm going with you,' 'cause then I can be with my big bro Keicho again, and I can rest easy knowing he'd make all the right decisions I never could. Then he said I had to decide for myself, to not rely on others to make the big choices, even him, and that I had to choose my own destination."

He looked towards the sky, then to the streets around them. "So I thought for a bit, then I answered, 'I'm going to Morioh' and then I woke up..." He trailed off as his eyes gained a sorrowful look. "I felt real sad when I did."

"Okuyasu," Josuke said between pants before his face turned furious and he glared at Okuyasu, "You damn bastard, you picked now to lie on your ass and dream!" He shouted as anger flared in his voice, and it only seemed to grow with each syllable.

"Woah! Talk about a bad attitude." Okuyasu said with a small whistle and grin.

"Shut your fucking mouth!" Suddenly, tears started falling down the Josuke's face as a big relieved smile spread across his face. "If you were alive this entire time, then you shoulda gotten up sooner, damn it!" He had been so worried that he failed, so worried that Crazy Diamond had been too late and Okuyasu had died just like his grandfather; so worried that he had been killed by Kira and Josuke couldn't save him, just like with his other friends. So seeing his best friend alive and walking was the best thing that had happened to him since this shitty day started.

"Damn it!" Kira shouted, drawing everyone's attention back to the murderer. Kira was enraged at coming so close to ending Josuke only to watch as he was saved at the last minute. Kira's voice blazed with hatred as he glared at the three men who had been trying to defeat him. "Don't think because you have your idiot friend back means-

"Ya know," Okuyasu interrupted, raising a brow at the serial killer who in turn looked at the punk with murderous fury. "If I were you, I wouldn't be talking so much," a broad, feral grin grew on his face. His eyes held a vengeful glee as Okuysasu let out a small chuckle. "Especially since you're in my range."

Both Kira and Josuke quickly knew what Okuyasu meant as a dark blue aura grew around Okuyasu. A humanoid figure clad in attire similar to dark blue football pads on its chest and shoulders, with the only difference being the yellow spikes jutting from each pad, stood right next to Okuyasu. It was tall, bulky, and had white skin with dark black lines traveling down its body. It had a towel-like object draped around its shoulders with a yen symbol on one end and a dollar symbol on the other side, corresponding with Okuyasu's fashion theme. On either side of its head were blinders that partially cover its headlight-shaped eyes. Spiderweb patterns were drawn on its right hand alongside two rather large bumps, and its mouth held no teeth and was in a permanent frown.

This was Okuyasu's Stand, The Hand, and it was a deadly fighter.

"For hurting me and my friend," Okuyasu said as he lifted his right hand, his Stand doing the same as both of their appendages seemed to overlap with the other. "I'm sending ya straight to hell!" Okuyasu and The Hand brought their arms down in a swiping motion and sliced the air in front of them. A dark blue rift suddenly appeared, as if a sharp blade had cut through the air. This was The Hand's ability, to scrape away space, sending anything it's right-hand touches into a void. And as a result, if Okuyasu didn't touch a physical object and instead scraped away empty air, then the void he created would "stitch" itself back together by dragging adjoining space to fill the hole. And as a side effect, it would also pull physical objects towards the rift in space and time at tremendous speeds, provided they weren't too heavy or bolted to the ground.

Such as Kira Yoshikage, who appeared right in front of Okuyasu as if he had just teleported. The murderer responded quickly, Killer Queen following his silent command as it moved around its master. The Stand rushed towards Okuyasu, fingers dangerously close to touching Josuke's friend as it sailed through the air. But Okuysasu was faster as both the punk and his Stand moved as one before swiping down their right hands at Killer Queen. Another dark blue tear in space appeared right on Killer Queens abdomen, causing more cracks to appear on the enemy Stand's body as both it and it's master were sent flying backward a second later. Josuke smirked as he saw Kira's body practically explode with blood before landing in the streets across from the house in a painful tumble. The murderer was now laying on his stomach, a puddle of blood forming around him as he trembled in an attempt to get back up.

"I thought this guy was supposed ta be tough," he asked Josuke, placing one of his friend's arms around his shoulder before carrying him up. "He seems more like a total dumbass to me."

"Takes one to know one," Josuke said with a grin as Okuyasu scowled at him. Josuke looked at the streets and saw Kira shakily standing up, blood gushing from deep wounds on his abdomen. And Killer Queen looked just as awful, the Stand's pink skin looked a shade paler, and inside its hollow stomach, Josuke saw Stray Cat's lying still on it's grassy back, green blood dripping down from the new and severe wounds The Hand caused. Josuke was sure the cat was out of it, which meant it just become a whole lot easier to beat the cold-hearted killer.

"Damn you both!" Kira shouted, his mouth now in a snarl, pure rage etched into his face."I will not be defeated by two incompetent teenagers!" The moment he said that, blood gushed from his mouth as he fell to his knees. Killer Queen was flickering in and out of existence as Kira continued to cough up blood.

"Oh really!?" Josuke shouted, "Because from the looks of it I say you have the stability of a house of cards right now!" His condition might be as bad as Kira's but with Okuyasu back in the fight their chances of winning skyrocketed. There was no way Kira could take them both on, especially since one of them was fully healed. The murderer could barely even stand, and with one of his main weapons now out of commission, his defeat was inevitable. The murderer was finally going to pay for his crimes; finally out of ways to -.

Josuke thoughts came to a halt when he noticed something.

Kira was kneeling on the street, his head lowered at the ground slowly being covered by his blood as he stared. His body was trembling like a leaf caught in a storm... until he stopped shaking. A disturbing calmness seemed to envelop Kira's body as the murderer ceased moving. He was bleeding, wounded in so many places, bones most likely broken after taking The Hand's attack... yet his very presence seemed to secrete a frightening tranquility that made Josuke swallow audibly. He had expected Kira to get desperate, expected him to scream at them as rage burned throughout his expression...but instead, Kira just continued to stare at the ground, shadows obscuring his face as anxiety swirled within Josuke. He shouldn't be scared, Kira was bleeding buckets of blood, Okuyasu was back at full health and with his help both of them could easily defeat the weakened murderer. But the way a frigid fear slowly crept and slithered inside Josuke's body, the fact that even though he could not see Kira's face, he could still imagine an eerily calm expression devoid of any emotion on the killer's expression...

Josuke felt his breaths get heavier as his fingers dug into Okuysasu's shoulder.

And then, Kira raised his head and looked at the three men.

And he was  _smiling._

A big, wide, smile that stretched to both ends of his face. Eyes bulging with deranged exhilaration, low chuckles radiating an insane joy as Kira slowly got onto one knee. The smugness that emitted from his smile grew with each second, to Josuke that disturbing grin was saying that Kira knew something he did not.

The apprehension gripping his heart would not stop growing. Josuke had never seen Kira look so crazy; the murderer looked like a beast made of pure insanity, the manic energy spreading throughout his expression stabbed right into Josuke's body as his breath hitch in his throat.

_What the hell is that bastard planning_ , Josuke thought as Kira got up, his legs wobbling as the murderer struggled to support his own weight. Around him, both Okuyasu and Hayato were now incredibly tense, watching Kira's every move with narrowed eyes.

"I will give you both this," Kira began, blood dripping from his lips. The demented smile still present on his face as it only seemed to grow with maniacal amusement. "You have made me realize how everything in one's life can go to hell." His dark purple aura was once again covering him and his Stand, but this time, the energy around him was much bigger, and as he continued to talk it grew. The smile slowly faded as his psychotic expression was replaced by his usual emotionless gaze, his face once again an empty husk of murderous ferocity. His hands were now clenched into fists, blood dripping down from his knuckles as his lips morphed into a deep frown. "You've shown me why even when you're so careful about hiding your secrets, even when you're a powerful monster whose always came out on top, all it takes is one bad day and suddenly everything's working to hurt you." Josuke was on edge now as Kira started to walk towards them, the aura around him still growing as his voice became cold; the temperature in the streets seemed to drop a few degrees. An inhuman maliciousness swirled within Kira's features, cold hatred radiated from every step he took. It was as if a blizzard was raging in the streets and Kira Yoshikage was at the center of the storm. "Even when you're a monster, you somehow meet foes who are just as scary as you, and before you know it you're bleeding through your teeth and your nice suit is ripped to shreds."

The energy building on Kira showed no signs of decreasing, Josuke was starting to sweat as he turned towards Okuyasu. "Okuyasu, use your Stand! Hurry up and use The Hand's power!" Whatever Kira was planning he knew he had to stop it. An instinct inside his body told him that if he did not act, he and his friends would die. Fear twisted Josuke's very soul as he stared right into Okuyasu's eyes. His friend gave him a curt nod, seeing Josuke's fear as he scowled at Kira.

"Got it," The Hand appeared to Okuyasu's side, but before they could act Kira and Killer Queen slammed their hands on the street.

"I'll be sure to remember all the valuable lessons you taught me... Even when you're all long dead!" The purple aura around Kira merged with the streets, traveling under the gravel and through the cracks, making it look like the entire road had turned a dark purple. The purple energy soon moved towards Josuke's group, the aura moving underneath the concrete and engulfing the house and the surrounding area in a purple glow. Josuke and his friends were all bathed in a dark purple light, eyes widening as he instantly knew what Kira was doing.

The murderer had just turned the entire street into a bomb and was planning on swallowing his enemy's, and himself, in a fiery explosion.

A last-ditch suicide attack.

Before Josuke could say anything, Killer Queen stood up and brought its thumb down to its hand. A familiar click rang through the empty streets.

"Shit!" Okuyasu, Josuke, and Hayato shouted, expecting an explosion bigger than anything Kira had used so far; they braced for the flames that would soon consume them all. From within the streets, plumes of smoke and ash erupted into the air, the force of the sudden explosion of smog sent Josuke and Okuyasu tumbling backward, searing pain frying Josuke's nerves as he landed onto the pavement; his vision clouded by the dense and black fog.

But even amidst his pain, Josuke quickly realized there were no flames following the clouds of smoke.

The entire area from the streets to the house was filled to the brim with smog, but strangely there was no fire. Instead of feeling the fiery heat from a sweltering inferno, the only thing Josuke felt was the smoke blowing into his eyes and the unholy pain ripping him apart from within.

"What the hell?" Josuke said, coughing as he was unable to see through the smoke hitting his eyes. The fact that there was no fire immediately told him something was wrong. Killer Queen never released duds, so he knew Kira had summoned all this smoke on purpose. He tried to get up, but he found could not move due to the agony his body was going through. After coughing up a bit of blood, he felt something grab him from behind, and turning his head he saw Okuyasu through the smoke, his best friend slowly and carefully lifting him up from his armpits.

"You alright bro?" Okuyasu asked, placing Josuke's arm over his shoulder, his words full of a deep worry.

"I'm fine," Josuke answered, though he really wasn't. By his expression, Josuke could tell Okuyasu didn't believe him, but right now his friend couldn't argue with him.

For right now they had to be on their guard for Kira.

"Okuyasu be careful. Kira's probably gonna use this smoke to launch a sneak attack." He had already taken out Crazy Diamond, the Stand materializing next to Josuke as it tried to fan away the smoke surrounding itself and its master.

"Fuck!" Okuyasu shouted, still carrying Josuke on his shoulders as his The Hand floated above him, head turning in every direction as it tried to locate the man its master no doubt wanted to punch. "That wasn't one of his normal bombs," Okuyasu said, coughing slightly before continuing. "Shit, I can't see anything. Can you, Josuke?"

"Not a damn thing," Josuke said, turning his head from left to right to try and spot any movement within the haze. "Where the hell are you, Kira?" He whispered. The smoke started to dissipate into the atmosphere, and Josuke's vision became somewhat clearer, but he was still unable to find the murderer. His entire body was tense, expecting Kira to jump out from the haze and attack both him and Okuyasu. He would not let that bastard get the drop on him; Josuke's mind worked a mile a minute as he tried to figure out what Kira was plotting. He refused to let that monster beat them when they were so close to-

"Wait a minute," Okuyasu said, snapping Josuke out of his thoughts as his friend turned his head towards Josuke. "Where's Hayato?"

At the mention of the small boy, Josuke's eyes immediately widened. He had forgotten about the young child when the explosion sent them tumbling. His head whipped towards the side as gaze lowered to the ground, but Hayato was no longer anywhere near him. "Oh crap I forgot about him," he said, fear entering his body as he tried to make out Hayato's figure through the smog. "Hayato! Can you hear me? Hayato!" Josuke shouted as loud as he could, but he received no answer. It was only now that Josuke noticed how eerily quiet it was, and the silence was worse than any of the attacks Kira had unleashed on him thus far. "HAYATO!"

And then Josuke heard a voice. It was overly sweet, faux sympathy dripped from each word as Josuke could practically see a mocking smile full of arrogance appear right in front of his face.

"Oh, you don't have to worry about him."

The smoke had almost completely disappeared now, Josuke's head slowly turning in the direction he heard the voice; cold sweat dripped down his forehead as his throat felt incredibly dry. And Josuke saw within the dispersing ash the blood-soaked Kira Yoshikage standing tall and proud, ten feet away from him and Okuyasu.

And Killer Queen was standing right next to Kira, holding Hayato by his shirt collar in one hand, blood dripping from a fresh wound on the side of his head. Pain was evident in Hayato's expression as it looked like the kid was desperately trying to keep his eyes open. The Stand easily lifted the Hayato up in the air as the kid struggled to get free, legs kicking uselessly at the creature holding him.

"Hayato's with his 'Dad' now," Kira said with a devilish smirk.

"Hayato!" Josuke and Okuyasu shouted. Instantly they both prepared to launch their Stands' at the murderer but were stopped as Killer Queen and Kira lifted their thumbs. Josuke did not move an inch as Kira glared at the two teenagers.

"I believe you know what will happen if you try anything," Kira said, a deep frown on his face as Killer Queen brought its thumb dangerously close to touching its hand. The malevolence in his eyes was tangible; the air around them became enveloped by a revolting maliciousness that made Josuke's heart beat a mile a minute. And as Josuke glared at the bastard in front of him he tried to think of something to get Hayato away from Killer Queen, trying to figure out a way to save his friend and prevent him from becoming another of Kira's victim.

"Damn it!" Okuyasu snarled, clenching his right hand into a fist. "Let go of Hayato you bastard!"

"Unfortunately, I don't see that happening in the near future," Kira said with a goading smile, loving the fact he was now the one in control again. Loving the fact that he had snagged away victory from Josuke and Okuyasu when he had been cornered yet again. Kira's expression gleamed with arrogance, his eyes held an immense smugness as it looked like Kira was desperately trying not to laugh at the two of them. Kira was exhausted, injured, and had so many wounds that Josuke couldn't count, but he was still able to outwit him.

The thought infuriated Josuke to no ends.

"I bet you never once considered my Killer Queen could make a smoke bomb," Kira began, his smile growing as his stance was now incredibly relaxed. "It's not something I usually do, you see it requires a lot more concentration and power than I normally need for my other bombs, but given my situation, I knew I had to use it. All that energy you saw surrounding me was just for show, to trick you into believing I still had the power for one last bomb." He explained, acting like he wasn't in an intense fight to the death and was instead giving a lecture to an unruly teen. "And now, this battle's victor is Kira Yoshikage!"

Josuke was growling, livid at the murderer in front of him, and despite his injuries pushed himself off Okuyasu and limped towards Kira. His expression was full of lethal fury as he pointed a finger at the killer, eyes blazing with rage. "If you think just because you turned Hayato into a bomb you've automatically won, then you're dead wrong! My Crazy Diamond will heal Hayato the moment you detonate him, and after that, I'll beat the ever loving crap out of you!"

Kira let out a tiny scoff, smile still coursing with enormous arrogance. Josuke ground his teeth at the infuriating look Kira gave him before the murderer spoke. "Hmph, you think I'm only using Hayato as a hostage?" Kira said, eyes glancing at the still struggling child, who continued punching and kicking at Killer Queen in a futile attempt to escape. "Oh no, I'm using him for something far worse. I've recently gained a new ability, and I don't see a better time to use it than now."

Josuke saw terror erupt within Hayato's expression, understanding what Kira was planning. When the killer saw Hayato's face, he chuckled. "Ah yes, you know quite a lot about it don't you Hayato."

"Josuke forget about me and kill this monster right now!" Hayato shouted, his voice held an intense and unyielding horror, his expression filled with fear as his eyes begged Josuke to listen to him.

"You know everything about my Stand's hidden ability, Bites the Dust." Kira continued before he turned towards Josuke and Okuyasu, a mocking glint in his eyes as Josuke suddenly felt a fear coil around his body. The dangerous expression Kira wore was setting off every alarm inside his mind. "It's a truly incredible ability, but can only be used on non-Stand Users, like Hayato. My Killer Queen enters the person's body, and if anyone asks the person infected with my Stand any form question about Kira Yoshikage, they will blow up into thousands of pieces. But that's not all it can do," Kira paused, taking in long heavy breaths as blood kept dripping from his wounds to the pavement. "This bomb can also rewind time by one hour."

Josuke heart stopped pumping blood when he heard that. For an instant, his skin lost all of its color as he felt terror grip every part of his body. "WHAT!?" he shouted.

"It can rewind time!?" Okuyasu also screamed, his eyes widening in disbelief.

No,no,no,no,no,no! After all of this, the bastard was about to get away again! He still had one last power to use, something as incredible as rewinding time that he had been saving for this moment. How can one man have such powerful abilities?!

"Yes, and it is my ultimate trump card!" Kira was laughing now, a deep, haunting laugh that sent chills up Josuke's spine. "A bomb that even after it's done rewinding time, any people it's killed in a previous timeline will still die even if the target tries to change anything! Like you fools!"

Kira must have loved the shocked faces on Okuyasu and Josuke's faces when he told them they had already died, as his laughs grew louder and even more hideous to hear. When Josuke heard that, he stopped breathing as his eyes moved to the ground. Despair wrapped itself around Josuke as he suddenly felt very cold.

If he had died in a previous timeline...did that mean he had already failed?

"And once time has been reset, only I and Hayato shall remember any of this!" Kira's words immediately snapped Josuke back into reality, the teenager pushing away his dread and doubt. Fury burned from within his body as his mouth moved into a snarl. "Normally even I wouldn't remember if time was reset, but since I'm physically activating the bomb as opposed to it automatically activating, I shall remember everything about this accursed encounter!"

"Like hell we're gonna let you do that! Okuyasu, attack him with everything you got!" Josuke charged at Kira, ignoring the pain rushing through him as his trusted Stand floated a few feet ahead of him. Okuyasu quickly followed, calling The Hand to his side and about to scrap away space.

But neither of them were fast enough.

"It's useless; I've already won!" Killer Queen dropped Hayato and the unfeeling Stand disappeared. But when Josuke looked at Hayato, he saw that within the kid's pupils was Killer Queen.

Kira then brought down his thumb to his hand and a sickening purple aura surrounded him and Hayato. Josuke eyes bulged out his socket; terror swallowed him whole as the young stand user's world suddenly turned pitch black as only he and Kira stood in the never-ending darkness. He felt like he was falling into a bottomless abyss of dread as he heard the familiar click ring out through the area. The world was back to normal as Kira began to laugh like the horrifying abomination he truly was.

"No!" Both Josuke and Okuyasu shouted; despair clung to their voices as Hayato screamed in pure horror.

"Bites the Dust!" Kira shouted, and Josuke expected a massive explosion to rock the area. He expected Kira's laughing to suddenly come to an abrupt halt as he found himself back in his room with no memory of what happened.

But nothing came.

There was no overwhelming heat that had burned Josuke dozens of times throughout the fight; no silent fireball erupted into the air before sending Kira back in time, if that was how Bites the Dust works. Kira's laughs were soon decreasing in volume as he looked around and realized he hadn't been sent back. It was clear he was confused as to what was taking so long as he stopped laughing as a frown spread across his face.

For several seconds no one, not even Kira, moved at muscle. Everyone was expecting the explosion that would send Kira back in time to occur at any moment, Killer Queen never fired any dud bombs, and Josuke was sure that the bomb would go off at any second.

But it never did.

Josuke looked around to make sure he was still fighting, seeing Okuyasu standing behind him and the house a safe distance away. He then looked towards Kira, whose mouth was hung open as his head swiveled in every direction, shock consuming the killer's face. Hayato, who looked just as surprised, slowly turned his head in every direction to make sure he was still in the present.

And after several minutes, Josuke realized that a small miracle had just happened.

Killer Queen's bomb had failed.

Josuke glared at the murderer in front of him as he realized that this was the end for Kira Yoshikage.

"What was that about you winning, Kira?" Josuke asked, Both his and Crazy Diamond expression's burned with a scorching fury. Hayato, realizing he wasn't about to be sent back in time, quickly ran away from the murderer towards Okuyasu. Kira was too shocked to even attempt to stop the kid.

"Im-Impossible!" Kira said as he took a step back in disbelief, looking around the house and then back to Josuke. "Killer Queen never fails, it should have worked! Luck has always been on my side whenever my back has been against the wall, so why is fate betraying me now?!" In the next second, Killer Queen stood right in front of Kira. The murderer looked towards his Stand with wide eyes. "Killer Queen, what are you doing?! I didn't call you; go back into Hayato and use Bites the Dust!"

"It looks like both fate and your Stand are actively trying their best to screw you over," Josuke said, stepping even closer to the murderer. Kira glared at him and his Stand as both Josuke and Crazy Diamond were about to pummel the man to death with their fist. From the corner of his eye, he saw Okuyasu grinning, and Hayato's eyes beaming with bright hope. Right now, Josuke's injuries were nonexistent as he continued to walk towards the murderer, who in turned braced himself for one last fight. Killer Queen stood protectively in front of its master, but no matter what Kira would do, nothing would stop the ass-kicking Josuke was about to unleash on this bastard.

But just as Josuke was a few feet away from the murderer, he had to stop walking.

For the ground started to shake.

It quickly ended, barely lasting for a second, but the small shockwave was enough to slightly off balance Josuke. Regaining his balance, Josuke felt confusion grow inside him as he raised an eyebrow.

"What the-." The ground started to shake again, this time even harder than before as everyone present had sudden difficulty standing upright. Josuke growled at Kira as he struggled to stand, the shaking causing his injuries on his legs to bleed even more. "Kira, what the hell are you doing?"

Kira looked...bewildered. It was a look Josuke had never seen before on the murderer. "I thought this was your doing?" He wasn't lying, the puzzlement in his expression was genuine. Josuke could tell that he didn't have anything to do with the earthquakes suddenly attacking the area. The ground now shook with such intensity that cracks began to form on the pavement. But then what the hell was causing these sudden quakes; it couldn't have been another enemy Stand user, neither Kira or the murderer's Dad had any time to make any more fighters.

"What the hell is going on!" Okuyasu shouted and just as he said that, on the street located near the house, the concrete split in two. A deep crack appeared on the street, even from where Josuke was standing he could see how deep it was. A glowing yellow energy started to pour from the crack, blinding the three Stand users and one kid. A typhoon seemed to sweep through the streets of Morioh as intense winds blew throughout the streets; and it was then all four of them were lifted off their feet, pulled by an incredibly strong invisible force towards the glowing crack.

"Shit!" Josuke shouted as he and everyone else were flying through the air. Okuyasu got lucky and was able to grab onto a spire sticking out of the front stucco walls that guarded the house, using the Hand to grab Hayato out of the air and towards his chest as they both held on for their lives.

Josuke and Kira weren't so fortunate as they flew further, soaring through the air and getting closer to the crack with each second. But as he flew Josuke saw he was quickly approaching a parked car, and he instantly knew what to do.

"Crazy Diamond!" He shouted, and just as he was flying over the car, his Stand dug its fingers into the small car with ease. The metal groaned as Crazy Diamond's finger pierced the hood and stopped Josuke from getting closer to the crack, his body flailing in the air against the unseen force. Kira acted just as quickly, using Killer Queen to grab onto one of Josuke's injured and flailing legs, causing the teen to shout in agony. Josuke wasn't expecting such a dramatic shift in weight, so his Stand was dragged back, fingers coming closer to the edge of the car's hood.

"Let go of me you bastard!" Josuke shouted over the roaring winds. Kira's form was hard to make out because they were so close to the blinding light, but he could see a snarl on the killer's lips.

"If I am forced to die today, then I will take at least one of you with me!" Kira replied, cold determination raging within his eyes.

"Josuke hold on!" Okuyasu shouted, looking worried as he struggled to hold onto both the spire and Hayato. A blue aura soon surrounded the punk as his grip on Hayato tightened. "I'll use The Hand ta-,"

But Josuke would never hear what Okuyasu had to say.

Before Okuyasu could finish, Crazy Diamond could no longer hold on to the car as its finger came unhinged to the hood, Josuke and Kira's eyes widening as the two Stand users were sent careening towards the large crack in the center of the deserted street.

"Josuke!" Okuyasu and Hayato shouted, and even with the blinding light, Josuke could see the massive horror on their faces as both he and Kira went into the crack, disappearing as the fissure quickly closed its wide mouth.

It was on this day that Josuke Higashikata and Kira Yoshikage ceased to exist in this world.

* * *

Beach City was rather small, despite its somewhat misleading name, and for the most part was a quiet town. All the houses and hotels were located a reasonable distance away from the ocean, and most of the residents in the small community knew one another. The boardwalk was how most people killed their free time. It had a variety of games and attractions even adults could enjoy, so it was a favorite spot for people of all ages. Whenever someone walked in the streets of the central town, they could always feel the cool ocean breeze on their backs and could taste the salt water on their tongue.

The best time to have fun in Beach City was on warm, sunny days. Eating a large scoop of ice cream on the streets along with a donut from their most popular donut store was the best way to enjoy both delicacies. Many people would confirm this fact. The cold water of the sea was refreshing to everyone, and the ocean was so reflective one could see their face clearly in the waves. Yes, the small town was very welcoming and friendly, as even new arrivals in the town feel like they've lived in Beach City their whole lives. The town, most of the time, was peaceful, and it was an almost perfect place to live in.

Almost.

The only problem was, dangerous magical creatures, though they technically weren't all the magical, would sometimes appear and wreak havoc on the town. Although no one had ever been hurt because of these monsters, it was a little...uncomforting to know that powerful creatures could come and attack people at any time of any day.

Thankfully, the town had their own guardians to protect them from said creatures.

Engraved in the face of the tallest cliff at the edge of the town was a statue of a giant woman. It was old and decaying, large portions of its body covered in a dark green moss and large cracks littered its stone body. It had eight arms, and almost every one of them had no hands except for its top right one, which held a washing machine at the center of its palm. While four of its arms were spread out, the other four converged near the bottom of the cliff. Specifically at a small white beach house which was built on top of its forearms. A staircase built on a sandy hill allowed people to access the beach house and inside the house lived a family of heroes. This family who lived here was known throughout Beach City, and currently, two of these family members were fighting a battle of epic proportions.

"You sure that's what you want to do?" Asked a short woman with bright lilac skin, her lips in a teasing grin. She had a somewhat stout build, having one eye covered by her long white hair that reached all the way to the floor. She wore a white tank top with a jagged hem, black leggings with dark mauve stars on her knees and equally dark boots. A purple gemstone was embedded in her chest, and her dark indigo eyes held a challenging gleam to them.

"I'm sure," replied a stocky boy, his height around the same as the purple woman, and had curly brown hair and dark black eyes, a deadly serious expression on his face. He wore a salmon pink t-shirt with a gold star in the center of it, dark blue jeans with sky blue cutoffs, and had pink flip-flops on his feet. His shirt was raised slightly, revealing a rose quartz gemstone where his navel should be.

"All right then," The short woman replied, a sinister smirk on her face as she crossed her arms. "Take your best shot, little man."

The boy nodded, before pulling his arm back and then thrusting it forward at great speeds...to a Jenga tower.

Just as the boy's fist was inches away from the construct of wooden blocks, he quickly opened his hand and grabbed one of the sections partially sticking out from the tower's side and then placed said piece at the very top, stacking it neatly next to two other blocks of wood.

The boy did this all in a matter of seconds.

"Yeaaahhh!" The boy shouted, proud of his Jenga skills.

"Woah, not bad Steven," The purple woman said, nodding her head in approval.

This boy's name was Steven Universe, a fourteen-year-old boy who was a part of the Crystal Gems, a team that was dedicated to protecting not just Beach City, but the whole planet from otherworldly threats. He was the son of the Gem's former leader, Rose Quartz, and had been living with the Gems for quite some time now.

"Thanks, Amethyst," Steven said to the purple woman with a smile on his face. Amethyst was also a member of the Crystal Gems, but she was so much more than that. She was from an alien race known as Gems, just like the other Crystal Gem; and like them, she had been alive for thousands of years. Steven himself was part Gem, his mother actually giving up her physical form to give birth to him, and now he literally walked around with a part of her inside him. There was still so much Steven did not know about the mysterious Crystal Gems, but there was one thing he knew for certain.

They were his family, people who loved him with all their hearts, or whatever Gems had that counted as hearts, and he felt the same way about them.

"All right, my turn now," Amethyst declared loudly, leaning forward on the table they had been playing on and examining the slightly swaying tower of blocks. Both were currently playing in the living room, crumbs littering the table from all the snack they had eaten after retrieving them from the nearby kitchen. Amethyst slowly and cautiously reached for one of the blocks, and just as she was about to touch one of the sections of the tower, she swiftly chopped the Jenga tower in its sides with one hand, causing an explosion of blocks to hit everyone in the area.

"Amethyst," Steven said, laughing at the purple Gems usual carefree antics as he used his hands to shield himself from the pieces of wood flying at him. Amethyst spontaneous rowdiness was one of the things Steven had grown to love about her. "We both know that's not how you win in Jenga."

"It should be," Amethyst said with a shrug, "It would make the game a lot more fun."

"Amethyst!" Both Steven and Amethyst turn around to see a slender, thin and ivory-skinned woman with an incredibly pointy nose. She was very tall, easily towering over the two by several feet, and had peach colored hair that was pointed back. She wore an aqua blue tunic with a small golden star in the center, pale blue ballet flats with pink socks, and had a light blue ribbon tied around her upper waist. This was Pearl, another member of the Gem's.

Her sky blue eyes were currently digging holes into Amethyst, more than a little peeved at the shorter Gem. Pearl never really liked it when Amethyst got wild and messy. "What did I tell you about needlessly destroying blocks in the house?"

"I hate to break it to ya, but I wasn't listening when you scolded me that time. Though it ain't like I've listened to your nagging anytime before," Amethyst replied with a goading smile.

Pearl's eye twitched a little as she continued to glare at Amethyst. "Honestly Amethyst, would it kill you to be a little more careful, especially when you're playing with Steven. I mean, you almost hit Garnet and me."

Upon hearing this, Amethyst looked up at the taller Gem before letting out several small giggles. Steven followed her line of vision, and upon seeing what was making Amethyst giggle, he to found himself holding back chuckles with his mouth.

The reason was that sticking out of Pearls hair were several Jenga blocks, her hair now looking like a pin cushion. And because it was so thick, the white Gem had yet to notice.

"What?" Pearl asked, curious as to why the two people in front of her were steadily laughing louder and louder. "What's so-" Her hand brushed against the side of her hair, and upon feeling the strange object in her head, she pulled it out. Realizing what the object was, her cheeks turned light blue as she blushed.

This only made Amethyst and Steven laugh harder, so much so they dropped to the floor and rolled on their sides.

Pearl's blush intensified as she shook her head, causing all the Jenga block in her head to fall out. "Amethyst!"

"Getting madder only makes it funnier, Pearl!" Amethyst said in between laughs as she and Steven got up from the floor, wiping away tears as they did so.

"It's not funny!" Pearl almost shouted, and just as she was about to continue, a smooth and calm voice interjected.

"Pearl, you have to admit," Turning around, Pearl saw the leader of the Crystal Gems, Garnet, sitting down on one of the couches. She was taller than any other gem present in the room, having a dark indigo cubed shaped afro. She wore a body suit that was divided into two colors right down the middle, one-half violet and the other half a dark purple. She also wore elbow length gloves that covered both of her middle fingers, oval-shaped shoulder guards and on her chest was a star with a magenta outline. Her skin tone was a deep red and triangular shaped soft pink shades covered her eyes.

"It was pretty funny," She finished, the faintest hint of a smile on her lips.

"HA! If even Garnet agrees with me, then you know I'm right P!" Amethyst shouted, and an argument broke out between the two Gems, with Pearl telling Amethyst she needed to control her outburst and Amethyst telling Pearl she needed to be less of a stick in the mud. All while Garnet stood up, went through the two arguing gems, and headed further back into the lobby, going into the second room towards a large doorway with a star and five gems embedded into it. Her usual stoic front had returned, but Steven swore he could still see a hint of amusement behind Garnet's shades as Pearl and Amethyst continued to argue.

Steven watched the Gems from his chair, a smile growing on his face. This was what it was like to live with amazing aliens from another world, and Steven loved every part of it. Going on magical adventures, making friends with people who had been once enemies like Peridot and Lapis, and fighting against evil aliens on an almost weekly basis. The only thing he really wished for was to learn more was his mother, but he assumed he would learn all about the woman behind the rebellion of Homeworld one day. But he doubted it would be anytime so-

All of a sudden there was a loud crash that echoed through the house. Steven turned around to face the direction the noise came from as did Pearl and Amethyst, who stopped arguing upon hearing the crash. And when they found what caused the noise made, each of the Gems gasped.

For on the ground, near the Warp Pad, a circular diamond-like device planted on the floor, Garnet laid on her stomach. Not moving at all, and that immediately worried everyone.

"Garnet!" Pearl, Amethyst, and Steven shouted, racing towards their fallen leader. Steven was the first to reach her, quickly flipping her over so her back was now on the floor as he examined her body. "Garnet, are you okay?" Pearl and Amethyst soon arrived at Garnet as well, and the leader of the Crystal Gems did not answer Steven. "Garnet?" Steven shook her slightly, but he still received no reply. "Something's wrong with Garnet!" Steven shouted in fright.

"Maybe she's just resting?" Amethyst offered, though the look of worry on her face told Steven she wasn't so sure. "Or maybe she just decided to take the whole "I'm silent and never show my emotions" shtick to another level."

Pearl crouched down next to Garnet, "I don't think that's the case, Amethyst." Her voice was barely above a whisper as she took of Garnets shades, revealing the Gem's three eyes, each one a different color. But what grabbed Steven's attention was the fact that Garnet's expression was one of complete horror. Her mouth hung open as her eyes stared at the ceiling, the terror on her face growing as the seconds past. Steven had rarely seen Garnet lose her composure, she always had an iron grip on her emotions. So seeing his mother-like figure in such a state made his heart fill up with anxiety.

"Guys, what's wrong with her?" Steven turned to the other Gems for answers, but they looked just as scared and confused as he did.

"We don't know," Amethyst answered, "This has never happened-." She never finished as Garnet's form started to glow a bright pink and floated up into the air. Her entire body became transparent, the pink light only growing stronger, before two new people collapsed onto the spot Garnet had just been in. One was a red scarlet skinned-woman, wearing a maroon tank top and a matching colored headband. She was short, only slightly taller than Steven, having thick, fluffy hair, burgundy shorts, and pointy red boots. The other person was also a girl but had pale blue skin and wavy light blue hair that covered the top part of her face. She wore a full-length dark blue gown with puffy white sleeves, white elbow-length gloves, and a dark blue skirt.

"Ruby, Saphire!" Steven said to the two women on the floor, rushing to Ruby to make sure she was alright. He placed a hand under Ruby's head and slowly lifted her up; he saw Amethyst and Pearl doing the same thing for Sapphire. He knew all about the two Gems that made up Garnet, who herself was a literal fusion of the two smaller Gems, and the fact that they had un-fused made it clear to Steven something was wrong. Garnet had told him in the past that the only time she would ever come forcibly undone is if her body was under intense physical or emotional stress, and either of those two options would be painful for Ruby and Sapphire.

"Ugggh," Ruby slowly shook her head as she groaned, bringing one hand up to her head and rubbing it gently. She then looked around as if wondering where she was before her eyes widened as her head turned to Sapphire. "Sapphire!" Ruby quickly jumped to her feet before rushing towards the blue Gem. Amethyst and Pearl stepped back as Ruby charged towards Sapphire. Once Ruby reached her, she picked Sapphire up by the back of her head, moving the blue Gem's hair out of the way and revealing her single closed eye in the center of her face. "Sapphire, wake up, please!" She started to shake the smaller gem, but Sapphire would not stir even a little, her eye still closed.

"Ruby, what's wrong with Sapphire," Steven asked, his voice full of dread as he looked over his shoulders. Amethyst was worried, biting her lower lip as a mixture of confusion and anxiousness entered her eyes. However, Steven's attention was quickly drawn to Pearl as the tall Gem slowly walked towards Ruby.

"Sapphire, please, I need you to wake up!" Ruby hadn't answered Steven's question; she hadn't noticed any of the other Gem's as she was frantically trying to wake Sapphire.

"Ruby," When Pearl had reached Ruby, she put a hand on the shorter Gem's shoulder. Ruby's attention was drawn away from the woman she loved as she turned to look at Pearl, tears starting to brim in her eyes. Pearls face had suddenly seemed to age, looking so wise Steven almost thought she looked like Garnet. "Calm down. You won't do Sapphire any good if you're too preoccupied shouting. If you could, would you let me examine her to see if she's hurt?" Her eyes were full of sympathy as Pearl stared at Ruby. After a moment, Ruby started to take deep, long breaths, calming down significantly as she gently placed Sapphire back on the ground before backing away.

"You're right. I...I got to relax, can't help her if I'm blowing a gasket," Ruby said a bit shakily.

This was something Steven admired about Pearl; though the elegant gem was usually overwhelmed whenever something unexpected happened, whenever the situation was truly serious, Pearl displayed the skills and experience she had gathered through the intense war she had fought in and would analyze and find the best way to deal with any problem. All while still being the kind and gentle woman that Steven and the rest of the Gems had known for so long.

Pearl picked up Saphire and examined her, hands moving everywhere on Sapphire's body. "There's no physical damage done to her gem, so she's just unconscious right now. She should wake up soon. But Ruby, what caused you to and Sapphire to un-fuse?"

Ruby did not respond, choosing to look at the ground and not look at any of the other Gems. Though Steven could still see the tears forming in her eyes.

"Ruby," Amethyst said, walking over to Ruby and wrapping an arm around the equally short Gem's shoulder. She had a warm and encouraging smile on her lips. "We all know it takes a lot to get Garnet to un-fuse, after all, she's such a boss," she said, hoping to get Ruby to crack a smile. But the red Gem did not, so Amethyst continued, smile fading as she grew more serious. "And since it happened in literally zero seconds, I think we all wanna know what the heck happened."

Ruby continued to look down at the wooden floor, rubbing a hand over her eyes to wipe away the tears. "W-we were fine, you know." To Steven, Ruby's voice was a little hoarse; the red gem was trying push down the sadness festering within her. "Everything was going normal, there wasn't anything weird going on, nothing seemed out of the ordinary, and that's when.." She paused, her face looked unsettled as she struggled to continue. There was fear in her eyes as she let out a shuddering breath. "Garnet saw something with her future vision."

Steven did not like how Ruby's voice went extremely quiet as she spoke her last words, nor did he like the way her body trembled as her expression practically glowed with horror. But he needed to know what happened. "What did you see?" He asked, and he saw everyone's eyes looking towards the trembling Gem before she finally spoke.

"Death."

That one single word was able to make Steven's eyes widen in fright, his body suddenly feeling a lot colder than it had before. He found himself breaking into a cold sweat as he tried his best not to let his fear show on his face. "De-Death?"

"Death," Ruby replied firmly, even though her body was shaking even more now. "Just Death."

"Ruby," Pearl said slowly, "I know getting those types of visions... are beyond awful; but I thought Garnet was used to seeing the occasional glimpse of death in some possible timeline." Pearl was clearly uncomfortable talking about such a sensitive subject in front of Steven, but that would not stop her from getting to the bottom of this mystery.

"You don't understand!" Ruby suddenly shouted. The three other Gems were not expecting Ruby's voice to become so loud so quickly as they all flinched. Her voice held nothing but dread; her entire body shook with fear. Terror radiated from Ruby's tiny body and caused the three Gems to take a step back, all of them looking on in concern. "This wasn't just a random death that seems next to impossible to happen; this wasn't just a single timeline possibly happening to result in death, no it was something so much worse!" Ruby's eyes were brimming with a fiery anger. "All we could see was Death! Suddenly our visions were basically made of nothing but death! In every possible event, in every possible future, all we could see is death after death after death!" Clamping her hands to the side of her head, she looked on the verge of a breakdown. Ruby let out several harsh gasps as every inch of her body trembled. Eventually though, the trembling lessened and she continued; her voice now quiet. "It was horrifying. Seeing so much pain, seeing so much loss all happening at once in front of us overwhelmed Garnet's body and we had to un-fuse."

Nobody said a word, and Steven's throat felt very parched. He had never seen any one of the Gems so terrified, and it scared him to think that something other than the monsters they faced could frighten his mother-like figures so badly.

"Do you know who exactly died," Amethyst said, no longer smiling and instead her lips were in a deep frown. It was rare to see the purple Gem so serious about anything. "Because from how you're making it sound, I think we might have to prepare for some serious business in the future."

Ruby let out a few more sharp breaths before she responded. "N-no. I...I didn't see anything specific," She said, her voice a mutter. "When we're fused, all the visions Garnet sees, to me, look blurry. Which is probably why I'm still on my feet while Sapphire..." She trailed off, unable to finish as she looked at the Gem laying in Pearl's arms. "She's gonna be alright, right?"

"Of course she is," Pearl answered with a smile. "You of all people should know how tough Sapphire is." The smile soon faded as her lips became a thin line. "But if these visions were as intense are you are describing, Sapphire most likely felt an even greater strain on her body, so it's doubtful she'll completely remember what she saw."

Steven had started to feel the roots of fear growing in his stomach after Ruby finished talking. And now those roots were gripping his entire body in an icy hold of panic and terror before he spoke.

"So what are we gonna do?" Steven asked, drawing everyone's attention to him. His voice was crackling with fear, even though he tried his best to control his emotions. "I mean, we have no idea what's coming, and it looks like it's way stronger than anything we've ever faced before and is gonna hurt a lot of people. Jasper, Homeworld, some new big and powerful corrupted Gem, it could be any one of those things and we don't know! What if we can't-"

"Steven." Pearl interrupted, her expression now warm with caring love as she looked into Steven's eyes "We can, and will, handle anything the future throws at us. We're the Crytal Gems, after all. So no matter what..." Pearl moved to one of the couches and gently placed Sapphire down before turning back to Steven and smiling confidently. "We will always save the day."

And with those simple words, Steven felt a whole lot better. "Yeah, we always will."

"Heck yeah, we will!" Amethyst shouted enthusiastically, drawing a few chuckles from everyone, even Ruby who seemed more peaceful after hearing Pearl's words. "After every big bad we've taken down, I'm sure whatever's coming is gonna regret ever facing the awesomeness of the Gem Squad!"

"All the same, we best start preparing for whatever this threat is," Pearl said before looking at Steven. "Steven, I want you to be extra careful in the following days. And this goes double for you Amethyst."

"Okay Pearl," Steven nodded, before turning to Sapphire. "But what are we gonna do about Sapphire?"

"For now, we have to wait for her to awaken since Gems can't fuse if one's unconscious." Pearl explained, "Ruby, it would be best if you stay by Sapphire's side; just in case something happens."

"Got it," Ruby said, walking to Sapphire as she sat down on a chair next to the couch, eyes not moving away from the blue Gem. "I ain't leaving her alone for a second."

"Alright, now," Pearl looked towards the other two Gems. "Steven, Amethyst, you can do what you want, but when Sapphire wakes up you are to immediately go get Peridot and Lapis, they need to know what's going on. When Ruby and Saphire re-fuse into Garnet, She and I will try to come up with a more cohesive plan as you go get those two from the barn." And with that, Pearl walked towards the Warp Pad, "I'm going to check on all the corrupted Gems we bubbled, just to be on the safe side." The moment she stepped on the circular device, a bright blue glow surrounded her, the light growing in size and touching the ceiling before the glow faded and Pearl had vanished.

Steven, Amethyst, and Ruby were left in the room, no one saying anything for several seconds.

"So, do you still wanna play video games," Steven turned around and saw Amethyst already upstairs in his bed twirling a controller in her fingers.

"Ummm... Maybe later," He answered, as he walked towards the screen door, wanting to get some fresh air. He appreciated Amethyst trying to return things to normal, to try and ease Steven and assure him everything would be fine. But Ruby's face was still present in his mind, and he had to get out of the house.

"Suit yourself," Amethyst said with a shrug, turning on the console before a soft smile spread across her face. "If you need anyone to talk to, don't hesitate to ask me. But please do it after I crush this guy's skull." She said, before instantly smashing the buttons on her controller. She seemed to be taking the shocking information in her usual nonchalant stride, and Steven was slightly envious that Amethyst could take such dire news with ease.

"Hehe, will do," Steven exited his house as Amethyst watched him leave. He did not know where he was going, but he needed to find someplace to think. He walked along the beach, gazing into the clear sky but for once was not happy to see such a beautiful sun hanging in the air, or the nice breeze pricking his skin.

_I can't see the future, but...why do I have the feeling that something awful is coming._  The dread in his stomach only grew with each step he took, but he tried to ignore that feeling and bubble it away. He had to be calm now. He needed to be calm. Feeling scared right now was stupid.

He was a Crystal Gem, just like his mother, and he would fight and win against anything that tried to harm his family or his city.

At least...he hoped.

* * *

Falling.

Josuke Higashikata knew he was falling, yet he wasn't panicking.

Around him, it looked like he had fallen into a tunnel of pure yellow; the curving walls a few feet away from him seemed to be made out of stars as he felt his body continue to descend. Gravity did not appear to exist here as Josuke's body floated in the air, blood dripping up into the air and right in front of him.

_What the hell?_  Josuke thought that he must have been dreaming. But then the searing pain in his hips from the railing impaling him reminded Josuke that he wasn't dreaming. He also realized that his adrenaline was wearing off, and it was getting harder and harder to stay awake.

He wasn't sure how long he had been falling for, but for some reason, it felt like he was still floating in the same spot since he started. He remembered Kira had also fallen into the same crack, so he immediately turned his head and searched for the murderer, but all he saw were the walls. And strangely, Josuke found his eyes glued to the bright and glowing walls, inexplicably drawn towards it. It was almost like the walls were calling out to him, begging to be touched. He stuck out his hand, intent on at the very least placing his finger on the wall, but something grabbed his wrist and stopped him dead in his tracks.

Josuke looked up and saw Crazy Diamond had materialized right next to him, even though he had never called his Stand, and was grabbing his wrist. Underneath its helmet, Josuke could see it's mouth in a frown as it shook its head.

Crazy Diamond seemed to be telling him not to touch the walls, and Josuke would be a fool to ignore his own Stand's warning. How his Stand knew the walls around him were dangerous, he did not know, but he trusted his Stand's judgment.

And then from the corner of his eye, Josuke saw a jet black hue coming from behind him. Josuke turned his body, inadvertently twirling in the air, and saw far below him at the end of the tunnel something that looked like a large, bubbling, trench of black lava. It was so far away, yet Josuke could feel the sheer power coming from the pit as he felt a chill run up his spine. The corrupt malevolence that the trench leaked pierced Josuke's weakened body as fear crept within his body. The trench unsettled him, and he decided he needed to figure out some way to get out of this passage now before he got too close to the black ooze.

"JOSUKE!"

Josuke immediately recognized the voice and whirled around, his Stand ready to unleash hell, but he never got a chance.

For a piece of clothing crunched up into a ball had just hit his right arm. And the moment it made contact, Josuke felt a burning, white-hot flame travel up his arm and spread to the other parts of his body. The pain was so intense it felt like his muscles had been lit on fire.

And then they actually were lit on fire as a large portion of his body was engulfed in an explosion. But the fireball made no sounds so Josuke could hear his own screams as clear as a bell. Bright red blood soon erupted from fresh wounds; his body was in such a searing pain he was vomiting blood and he could no longer feel his right arm. There now severe burn marks on his exposed right arm as Josuke suddenly felt his voice die in his throat, no longer able to even scream as the pain seemed to increase.

Josuke found himself flying backward, his Stand disappearing back into nothing as his body slowly stopped careening and he was once again floating. Though he could barely think straight through all the pain, he could still see Kira's enraged face looking down on him from far above.

"The pain your feeling right now is only a fraction of the anger running through my blood!" Kira shouted, blood dripping from his wounds. Josuke could see Killer Queen, stomach open and Stray Cat's body still limp inside the space, standing right next to Kira. Kira suit had a new, long tear in it, different from the other ones present, and through the haze in his mind, Josuke knew how Kira made a new bomb. "Being sucked into this...Place and being taken away from Morioh is a fate worse than death to me!" The blistering rage in his voice grew with each syllable he spoke; his purple eyes burned with malicious hatred. "And it's all your fault! If you had just left me in peace, I wouldn't have killed your friends, I would be just another man you see across the street, and most of all I would have a normal life and still have a place I could safely call a home!"

Kira's expression was growing more livid with each word he spoke. "Now because of you and your friends, I have gone through hell these last weeks, and am now in some form of purgatory with my only company being you!"

Absolutely searing fury burned within Kira's expression, his entire body leaking with repulsive malevolence. The air around them now clinging with darkness despite the bright light of the tunnel as Kira's mouth morphed into a snarl. "All I wanted was to live my life as I please Josuke Higashikata! So why are you so hell-bent on making sure I don't have a future!?"

Kira pointed a finger towards Josuke, the blood dripping down his face and further highlighting darkness that now ran rampant throughout the murder's face. Josuke could see all of Kira's hatred, his fury, and all of his demonic cruelty with crystal clear clarity even through his blurred vision.

"Why are you so determined to deny me my peace!"

Josuke was barely listening, the pain he felt was so intense he was surprised he wasn't dead yet. Though right now death seemed very appealing to him. He was so tired, and right now he didn't care about Kira, all he wanted to do was rest and be...at peace.

At peace...that was...what Kira wanted...to be at peace..?

He suddenly saw a girl with bright pink hair.

At peace...

He suddenly saw a small boy grinning at him. And another girl with long brown hair actually complimenting his pompadour.

At peace...

Then he saw newspapers. Newspaper after Newspaper detailing people going missing. Detailing ever devastated mother, every broken family, and all of the lives that had been ruined after someone "disappeared."

A purple aura surrounded Josuke.

...At peace!?

And his eyes shot open as they blazed.

That word, peace. The word Kira had been repeating over and over again since Josuke had first met him, the last word of Kira's rant sent something primal through Josuke.

Pure, unadulterated, rage. A rage that burned through his body almost as much as the explosion; an anger so intense it made every cell in his body go into overdrive as a new more dangerous energy ran through his blood. The vicious hatred within him made his entire body tremble as he clenched his left fist so hard he drew blood.

All while he felt his eyes continued to blaze.

This bastard... This bastard had the balls to talk about wanting peace! Josuke remembered his friend, Shigechi, using his Stand to deliver the warning about Kira being a Stand User. Just before his friend's Stand blew up and even now they still could not find even one part of the small boy. He remembered Aya, her bruised body lying in a pool of her own blood with a hole in her neck, and yet she still tried to tell him and his friends what Kira looked like before she had been killed in a fiery explosion. Now nothing more than ash in the wind.

And then there was Reimi Sugimoto, the girl who had died fifteen years ago, the ghost girl who was still stuck in his world and couldn't move on, the girl who wanted to bring her killer to justice and avenge all those he had killed... Was unable to get even the slightest hint of peace because this bastard was still breathing and hurting others to this day, and Remi couldn't get to move on as she should have so long ago.

The fire in his eyes would not stop growing.

And this monster dared talked about wanting to have peace for himself? After everything, after every horrible deed he had committed, he had the guts to ask to live in peace?

Kira's expression suddenly lost some of its contempt. The malevolence that the murderer radiated wasn't as strong as before. And within Kira's eyes, he could see a touch—just a touch, but he still saw it—of fear. Because the bastard saw it.

He saw the fire in Josuke's eyes born from the teenager's righteous fury. He saw the sheer hatred within those flames that would burn a hundred normal men as Josuke glared at the murderer. And Kira saw that the anger, the immense, blazing anger within Josuke's eyes was only a mere  _fraction_ of the rage the teenager had within his soul.

The fear Josuke saw suddenly grew.

Despite the pain running through him, despite the fact that his body was roaring with exhaustion, Josuke stood tall as he glared at Kira with every ounce of pure rage within him.

"You wanna know why I keep trying to kick your ass? You wanna know why I want to make sure you never harm another innocent person ever again?" Josuke's voice was rough and barely above a whisper, but the rage within it  _roared_.

The fear grew again; and he saw Killer Queen  _flinch_.

He looked at the ragged ball of clothing floating by his side. Whatever Kira turned into a bomb would not be damaged in the explosion, but once used, Kira would have to touch it again to reignite it. Which meant right now that ball of cloth was safe to touch.

"It's simple..." Josuke used the energy flowing within him to call Crazy Diamond's arm, the limb appearing in front of Josuke as it overlapped with his elbow before it grabbed the small ball of clothing into its fist. A dark yellow aura surrounded it, and the same aura surrounded Kira and Killer Queen, both of their eyes widening as they realized their mistake. Crazy Diamond could repair anything it touched back into its original form, and it could control where said objects would reform.

Even if someone was  _wearing_ the object.

"You..." Kira's eyes widened even further as he was suddenly sent flying towards Josuke, his body moving faster and faster as if there were strings pulling his body to Josuke. Crazy Diamond's entire body appeared only a few inches away from Josuke as both master and Stand pulled their fist back. Josuke summoned every ounce of strength left as both he and his Stand launched their fist together at the murder careening towards them.

"PISSED ME OFF!"

The fear in Kira's eyes changed. And every bit of hatred and malevolence fled from his expression as pure  _terror_  overwhelmed the unfeeling murderer.

And it was at that exact moment that Crazy Diamond and Josuke's fist plowed into both Kira and Killer Queen's face; their eyeballs popped out of their sockets and blood sprayed into the air in a geyser.

It was the most satisfying thing Josuke had ever seen.

Josuke roared. And Crazy Diamond quickly followed with its' own right before his Stand ended this.

_**"DORARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARAR**_ _ **RARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARA!** _ _**"** _

Moving as fast as light itself, Crazy Diamond rained blow after blow on both Kira and Killer Queen, smashing fist after fist into every part of their bodies. Punch after punch hit Kira with organ shattering force, Crazy Diamond somehow moving faster by the second as it seemed to grow a thousand pair of arms that unleashed a maelstrom of destruction on the murderer and his Stand. Kira's body was like a ragdoll, the force of each punch sent his head and limbs twisting and veering as Crazy Diamond kept attacking with such powerful hits Kira's bones could be heard snapping with each punch.

And after what seemed like a neverending barrage of dense and immensely strong blows, Crazy Diamond stopped punching, turning away from its targets. Killer Queen and Kira were still for one, solitary second.

Until both the Stand and the murderer's bodies erupted in blood, every inch of his body now covered in the red liquid. Every painful blow Crazy Diamond had landed caused deep dents in both Kira's and Killer Queen's bodies as they were sent careening backward. Kira let out the most painful scream Josuke had ever heard as his body hit the bright yellow walls; his Stand disappeared from existence as it's owner had been utterly crushed by Crazy Diamond. But to Josuke's surprise, the wall seemed to absorb the stand user, enveloping him in tendrils of yellow energy as his bloody body slowly began to fade.

"Damn...you..." Kira began through broken teeth and blood filled mouth as his body began to sink deeper into the light. And even though Kira was in immense pain, even though Josuke could see he was so close to dying...the murderer still had enough strength to shout his next word with a bottomless fury.

"JOJO!"

Hatred whirled within Kira's bruised face. Hatred that was just as lethal as any of his Stand's explosion.

And in response to Kira's anger, Josuke along with Crazy Diamond struck a pose, one arm placed under their chins while their other arm was above their head and pointed at Kira; both Stand and master twisted their upper body to the left to give Kira a view of their steely blue eyes. Josuke gave the murderer a scowl before he was completely absorbed.

"Rest in hell with all the other scumbags, Kira." And those would be the last words Kira would hear from Josuke as the wall finished enveloping him.

And in the next moment, his injuries were too much for him as his Stand faded out of existence. The only reason he did not collapse onto the floor was because there was none. He floated down the tunnel of light, down to the pit of black lava only a few feet away now.

"Aya...Shingechi...Remi...Everyone, I got him..." Josuke was coughing blood as he spoke, his eyes slowly closing. "Sorry...but I don't think I'm coming back to celebrate." Even with all the pain in his body, he still smiled as he suddenly found himself sinking into the black liquid.

And just before he lost all consciousness, there was one thought running through his head. One last thought before Josuke Higashikata entered a new plane of existence.

_This is just... Great_

_To Be Continued~_


	2. New Threats

Cold.

A moment before Josuke's body was on fire from all the pain and adrenaline rushing through his blood, but now it was so cold; his muscular body shook from the chills that went up his spine. He was standing in the middle of a snowstorm, a blizzard that seemed to rage endlessly and made it impossible to see anything. Darkness was the only other thing that kept Josuke company as he realized it was some time at night. He had trouble seeing his body through the dark and snow, and he was unable to clearly make out any of his surroundings.

_The hell?_  He thought, wondering exactly how he ended up in the middle of Antartica, hugging himself in an attempt to stay warm.

_How did I go from freaky light tunnel to frozen wasteland?_ Josuke looked down and saw that all of his wounds were gone, even his clothes had been repaired, and all the pain he had been feeling seconds ago now a distant memory.  _And what the hell happened to my wounds? I shouldn't even be standing right now._

The confusion within his head was overshadowed by the fact his legs were quickly becoming numb from the sub-zero temperatures. Josuke clutched himself even tighter, his finger digging into his jacket sleeves as hard as humanly possible. His teeth chattered, breath coming out in thick clouds of vapor as he began to walk forward against the blizzard, hoping to find someplace or someone to help him to get out of this storm. He could figure out where he was and what happened to him later, right now he needed to get out of the frigid winds.

Walking through snow that went all the way up to his ankles, Josuke searched for any signs of life or a suitable place to ride out the storm. Josuke tried to focus on anything besides the icy weather around him, but could not. Josuke had never liked snow, preferring hot sunny days as opposed to cloudy, miserable, and all around shitty days where you could die from frostbite. It also didn't help that he almost died because of snow, and the unpleasant memory that surfaced because of the bitter and deadly blizzard in front of him only made anger bubble in his chest.

"God damn it!" Josuke shouted, putting his arm in front of his head in an attempt to stop the snow from attacking his eyes. It partially worked, but his eyes were still pummeled with the droplets of frozen water as he continued to walk. Each step seemed harder the last, piles of snow building on top of his hair and shoulders. He tried to shake off the snow, but as soon as he did, even more snow instantly made another pile on his shoulders and hair again.

"Crap, I think it's getting colder," Josuke said, his shivering getting worse as he felt his movements become slower. He had no idea how long he had been wandering in the blizzard, but for Josuke, it seemed like he had been aimlessly walking for hours. As each second passed, he found it harder and harder to move. He could feel his body temperature dropping with every step as his breaths became more labored.

Josuke knew that if he did not find anything soon, there was a very real chance he would die from frostbite. Unfortunately, his eyes could see nothing through the darkness, and it wasn't like he had anything to help him with-.

He paused mid-thought, as he realized he did have a something to help him in his current bind. A humanoid warrior whose vision he can share and had the eyesight to see miles ahead, far better than Josuke's own eyes.

"Crazy Diamond," Josuke said, searching inside himself for the energy flowing through his body before channeling it to form his Stand.

At least that's what should have happened.

Josuke had focused and summoned the energy the same way he always had, but for some reason, Crazy Diamond did not appear next to him. He blinked once, then twice as his eyes widened and he whipped his head in every direction, hoping to see his Stand appear at any moment.

It never did.

"Crazy Diamond!" Josuke shouted, once again channeling the energy flowing in his blood and tried to call his Stand. But once again nothing came, and Josuke felt panic creeping within his stomach.

"CRAZY DIAMOND!" He shouted as loudly as possible, a dark purple aura surrounding him and growing exponentially as he summoned as much energy as he could concentrate. He was sure that if he focused an enormous amount of energy he could summon his Stand and it would appear next to him like it always did.

But no matter how much energy Josuke used, Crazy Diamond would not appear, and Josuke stood alone in the storm. And the feeling of pure dread that coursed through him was far colder than then the blizzard around him.

"Crazy...Diamond," Josuke's voice was barely above a whisper as his mind tried to process what was happening. His Stand, his trusted partner, a being that was a literal part of him...was gone. An entity that had been a part of Josuke's life for so long, an ally Josuke could always rely on to help him out in a fight suddenly was no longer by his side. To Josuke, it might as well had been his soul that was taken, as the personification of will was for all intents and purposes...Him. Crazy Diamond  _was_  Josuke Higashikata.

And without it, he didn't feel whole.

Josuke collapsed onto his knees, hand digging deep into the snow, not even caring about the sting of the snows cold temperature as despair consumed him.

How? Why? This shouldn't be possible; this shouldn't be happening to him, not after he had finally killed the bastard who had terrorized his town. He should be jumping in joy, celebrating with his friends along with his Stand.

But instead, he was freezing to death in the middle of a blizzard. Alone.

Was he seriously going to die here?

...No, screw that! Like hell, he was gonna let it all end because of damn snow! He would never hear the end of it from that bastard, Rohan, if he died now!

_Focus,_  Josuke thought, ignoring the dread and concentrating on the anger from being unable to summon Crazy Diamond. He rose from the snow, wiping off as much of the white stuff from his hair and shoulders as possible.  _Focus on trying to get the hell out of this blizzard,_ _and then worry about Crazy Diamond later._

It wouldn't do him any good if he froze to death, not after somehow being healed and defeating Kira. He was going to escape this storm, figure out why he couldn't call his Stand, and then reunite with his friends.

That was a promise, and Josuke Higashikata was a man of his word.

_You'll figure it out Josuke; you have to._ He had beaten Kira, avenging his friends and redeeming himself for failing to stop the insane killer so many times before. So figuring out this mess should be no problem

He hoped.

It was then suddenly, Josuke was hit by a bright light. Amidst the blizzard, Josuke could see in the distance a light coming from within the storm. He couldn't make out exactly what was making the light, but to Josuke it meant that either there was someone else struggling against the storm, or there was someplace close by where he could get away from the snow shower.

"Hey! Is someone out there!?" Josuke shouted, but he received no reply. "Hey, if someone can hear me please answer! I promise I don't bite!" Once again receiving no response, Josuke grunted slightly as his eyes narrowed. He could partially make out the outline of...something ahead of him, though the snow made it impossible to determine what.

_Screw it, there's something out of there, and right now I need to hurry up and escape the storm before I freeze._ Without wasting another moment, Josuke walked through the snow, his legs getting more and more numb with each step but still, he pushed forward. His shoes were full of snow by now, his hair becoming wild and untamed as the winds from the blizzard grew stronger, but he wasn't about to give up now.

"Almost there Josuke," He said, trying to distract himself from the cold as he saw the source of the light getting closer with each step he took. The closer Josuke got, the more he could make out where the light was coming from. To Josuke's eyes, an outline started to form as he moved deeper into the blizzard, and it looked big and bulky. Almost like a ca-

Before Josuke knew it, the light was moving deeper into the storm and away from him. His eyes widened as he tried to run after it, but no matter how fast he moved the light was moving farther and farther away from Josuke as he soon found himself back in the darkness as the blizzard became stronger. The winds were whirling around him at speeds that seemed impossible for any type of storm. To Josuke, it suddenly felt like he was in the middle of a tornado. The snow was whipping around him so violently that when he tried to stick his hand through the whirling snow, he had to immediately pull it back for it had been severely scratched, blood now dripping down his fingers.

"Oh, Shit!" Josuke shouted, the anxiety that had been building inside his chest threatened to explode as the hurricane around him grew by the second. As he looked up towards the black sky through the eye of the storm, he saw the sky suddenly illuminated by a white light. The white light was so blinding that Josuke had to cover his eyes with his arms to shield his vision. And as the light grew brighter, Josuke saw the tornado enveloped in the shining glow, just before his own body was swallowed by the light.

* * *

Josuke awoke with a startled scream, his eyes wide with horror as his breaths came out as gasps. His pupils were assaulted by light when they opened, causing him to shut them as his eyes started to burn. After a few moments, he slowly reopened his eyes, and they quickly readjusted to the brightness of the room. His head snapped in every direction, expecting to see more snow, but instead saw white walls and a clock above a pale blue door a short distance away from him.

"What the...?" Josuke looked took in his surroundings, his heart still hammering around in his chest but the feelings of fear and shock were slowly fading away as he saw he was no longer in danger of freezing to death. Instead, he was in a room with only one window located to the left of him, and to the right of him he saw his arm was hooked up to an IV tube, the clear plastic bag the tube was connected to periodically dripped an unknown liquid into Josuke's blood stream. Several complex machines scattered throughout the area and Josuke saw curtains dividing the room into sections, and he was partially able to make out the outlines of empty beds through the sheer fabric.

Looking down, he saw that his clothes had been taken off and placed on a chair next to the door leading outside of his room. All of his wounds were wrapped in thick bandages, especially around his chest and right arm. He raised his left arm, wincing slightly as a sharp ran through his limb, and traced his fingers along his face. Josuke felt several bandages cloaked on his head, and also felt the loose strands of his hair sticking out, no longer neatly combed into their usual pompadour shape. And since he was now wearing a green hospital gown, it didn't take long for Josuke to realize where he was.

_A hospital,_  he thought, the hammering in his chest had ceased as he looked at the white ceiling.  _Then that shit with the blizzard was just a dream, which means..._

Quickly reaching within himself and calling on the energy that flowed through him, Josuke's usual dark purple aura surrounded him, and Crazy Diamond appeared. The Stand was floating in the air a few feet in front of him and was also a few inches above the bed Josuke was currently resting on.

"Oh thank God," Josuke said, letting out a relieved breath he did not know he was holding. "Crazy Diamond, it's good to see you."

The Stand did not give a verbal reply, simply nodding its head as its blue eyes stared at Josuke. But to Josuke, Crazy Diamond might as well have been talking since he understood his Stand completely without it uttering a single word; almost like he could hear its thoughts.

"Yeah, I messed up my body badly this time," Josuke said with a chuckle, though it immediately turned into a violent coughing fit. Slowly his coughs died down, and he rubbed his incredibly parched throat. It felt like he hadn't had anything to drink in months. "Damn, what I give for you to have the ability to heal  _my_  wounds."

Once again Crazy Diamond said nothing, this time shaking its head slowly from side to side. Josuke had learned a long time ago his Stand would never talk, why he may never know, but it never bothered him. Josuke could communicate with his Stand just fine, having learned all of its subtle facial expressions and deceivingly simple actions. Since his Stand was a being of his will and fighting spirit, whenever they were in a difficult battle or under an immense amount of pressure was when their teamwork was at their best. To say they had a unique bond would be an understatement.

"So where did the tunnel thing take me to anyway?" Josuke asked as he turned his head in search of something that could help him identify where in Japan he was. But that was when his eyes locked on to a sign above the doorway to the room. What stuck out to Josuke was the fact that the writing was in  _English_ letters.

"What the hell?" Josuke said, and he was sure that underneath Crazy Diamonds helmet the Stand was raising a brow—well if it had one—also a tad confused like Josuke.

And that was when a doctor came in through the door, and once he saw Josuke, his eyes widened a little before he walked over to the Stand User, quickly pulled up a chair and then introducing himself and proceeded to ask questions.

And it was here Josuke noticed two things. One was that the doctor in front of him, in addition to being old, a little short, and having a gray head of hair, had no traits of being Japanese; the tone of his skin and the shape of his face were exactly like that of an American. And the second thing he noticed was that just like the signs, the language the doctor spoke in was English.

And it was at this moment Josuke thanked God for his mother. For Tomoko Higashkiata had drilled Josuke in every form of the English language into his brain since he was five years old. He had always thought that it was normal for a kid to be schooled in two languages, but as he got older he soon realized that he was one of the rare teenagers who could fluently speak two languages with ease. When he had asked his mother why she taught him, she replied with a fond smile. "Your father is a foreigner," she had said, "and his Japanese is pure garbage. I thought it would be best if his son knew his own language. So that way when he finally gets off his sorry ass to visit Morioh, you two can talk without the worry of a language barrier. And I'm sure you two will get real close once you meet each other since you both have the same annoying ass personality."

That was one of the rare times his mom would talk about his father, and upon meeting Joseph Joestar, he realized she was right.

His Dad's Japanese was trash.

"Umm," Josuke started, racking his brain for the right words in English to make sure he was understandable. "Excuse me," He said, his voice sounding different as he pronounced the unusual syllables. "But, where am I?"

"You are in the Sugar Medical Center," The doctor answered, "We found you just outside our doors, losing so much blood that you should have died from blood loss hours ago, but somehow you were still alive. You had to go through extensive and risky surgery, and still we thought that your body might not make it, but somehow you held on and lived." The doctor smiled as he looked over Josuke. "You must be one hell of a fighter."

Josuke gave the doctor a quick nod as he formed the next question in his mind before speaking. "And where am I..." He trailed off, searching for the correct translation of the word he needed. "Geographically?"

The doctor looked at him strangely, raising an eyebrow before responding. "You're in America, son, New Jersey specifically."

He took that news as well as he could, given the circumstances.

"AMERICA!?" Josuke shouted, and the doctor had winced at how loud Josuke's scream was. Jouske up from his bed, but immediately regretted this decision as a searing pain shot up from his legs all the way to his right arm. "Shit!" He shouted again, this time from pain as his entire body recoiled and he slammed against the bed.

The doctor reacted quickly, coming next to Josuke and placing a hand on his back. "You shouldn't move yet; your body is still recovering from all the damage it has received."

Josuke was barely listening, his mind beginning to go into shock as he tried to process the information he was just told. Floating to the right of him, Crazy Diamond eyes were wide with shock.

_What the fuck happened to Japan!_ Josuke mentally screamed as he looked around the room, his eyes full of confusion and frustration. Not only did the tunnel of light take him away from his home, but had placed him on an entirely different continent thousands of miles away! How the hell was he suppose to get home now?1 He didn't have any money on him, so he couldn't even afford a taxi, much less a plane!

But throughout his inner ramblings, there was something growing within Josuke. Something that festered and spread throughout his body and Josuke soon realized what it was.

Fear.

He shoved those feelings away, reasoning with himself that even though he was in another country, he still could get home. All he had to do was find some way to contact his friends, Jotaro, or hell, even the Speedwagon Foundation, and he'd be back home in no time.

_Relax, Josuke, just get out of this hospital and find some way to contact someone back home, and you'll be fine._ He thought, and he realized the doctor had been asking him questions while he was thinking.

"I'm sorry what did you say?" Josuke asked, and the doctor had asked where Josuke was from, how did he get so injured and other similar questions. Josuke was glad he had such a good poker face, it made lying his way through shitty situations so much easier. He was also thankful that he had hammered all the tips Jotaro had given him on keeping his cool in stressful conditions. Once the doctor had finished asking Josuke questions, believing his bullshit answers, he got up from the chair and went towards the door.

"Well, for now, I would highly advise you to get some rest. I'll be back later, so try not to exasperate your wounds." Once the doctor had left the room, Josuke waited a few moments to make sure the doctor wasn't coming back; and then once he was sure, he ripped out the IV tube with his left hand. He grunted a little from the sudden stinging pain, a small amount of blood leaking from the hole the tube had made.

"Sorry Doc," Josuke whispered as he slowly sat up from his bed, wincing a little from the pain of his injuries as he did so. "But I absolutely hate hospitals." He then looked up at his Stand, who nodded as if Josuke had just given him a command even without talking. Crazy Diamond floated down towards Josuke, placing the high school students arm over its neck, and then carefully lifted Josuke's body into the air. Once Crazy Diamond and Josuke were hovering a safe distance away from the bed, the Stand cautiously levitated down to the floor, placing Josuke down next to a medical counter as the high school student leaned against it to support his weight. Not needing his Stand anymore, Josuke ceased channeling his energy as Crazy Diamond disappeared from existence.

"Shit, my legs feel like jelly." He muttered, banging his legs against the desk in an attempt to regain feeling in his limbs. It somewhat worked, his legs now able to stand on their own, albeit they were still shaking and more than a little sore from the banging. "Alright then," Josuke slowly limped towards a nearby sink with a mirror and turned the water on. He splashed cold water on his face, and even drank a little from the sink since his throat was begging for some form of liquid before looking in the mirror.

"Damn, my hair's a mess." Josuke didn't have his comb or any sort of hair product, so he used the water from the sink and his hands to try and mold his hair into its usual pompadour shape. After a few minutes of trying, he was able to succeed partially, his hair back into its usual form, with only a few strands here and there out of place.

"Alright, now I just have to get out of here," Josuke said before looking at the chair that held his clothes. He quickly stripped out of his hospital gown and put on his old outfit. It was difficult to put on his pants since his legs were still shaky so he ended up having to sit down in order to properly put them on. And when he put on his Jacket, he had extreme difficulty moving his right arm, having to bite his lower lip to prevent himself from shouting. He knew he shouldn't be moving when his body was clearly still in pain, but he had to get out of here now. After a few moments, Josuke had gotten fully dressed, putting on all of his metallic emblems in the right places, and once again looked in the mirror.

Josuke saw there were multiple holes of all shapes and sizes scattered from the top of his jacket to the bottom of his pants legs. The right sleeve of his jacket was almost torn to shreds, exposing a large portion of his arm. Josuke knew his clothing was a little... rough around the edges, but he could take care of that in an instant.

"Crazy Diamond," the dark purple energy once again surrounded Josuke as he summoned his Stand. Crazy Diamond then quickly launched a fast jab at Josuke but stopped short of actually hitting the teen as its fist just touched his jacket. A dark yellow glow surrounded Josuke as he waited for his jacket to be repaired. For several seconds Josuke stood patiently, the dark yellow aura still enveloping his body as he waited for the shredded bits of his clothes to come flying tow.

But what Josuke did not expect was for the golden aura to suddenly fade away and for his clothing to still be ripped apart.

"The hell?" He asked, looking up at his Stand, Crazy Diamond's expression held a touch of surprise as it brought its arms up to its face. "Whats wrong? I didn't stop using my power, so what happened?"

His Stand did not look sure as to why its abilities had failed, and simply gave Josuke a short apologetic bow.

"It's fine; it's not either of our faults. We're probably too far away from the actual pieces of my jacket to reform them." That made sense, and right now it was the only explanation he could think of.

There was an inkling of dread that began to pool in his stomach, but he ignored that feeling. Just because Crazy Diamond couldn't repair his clothes didn't mean anything sinister was going on; such as an enemy Stand blocking his powers.

But just in case, Josuke made sure to take move a little faster as he exited his room. Crazy Diamond soon faded away from reality as Josuke stopped channeling his dark purple aura. He wanted to conserve as much energy as he could since he might need Crazy Diamond later.

_It'll be a little weird walking around with ripped clothing, but maybe I can find some tailor to fix up my clothes. And as for money, worse case I use Crazy Diamond to help pickpocket_   _people._ Josuke thought as he turned a corner and went down a wide hallway, passing nurses and other patients as he walked.  _For now, though, I have to find out how to get in contact with everyone in Morioh. I doubt I can just call them on a random payphone._

Sneaking out of the hospital was surprisingly easy. All Josuke had to do was pretend his injuries weren't sending flares of pain across his body, making sure not to limp and walk normally and not even security tried to stop him. Josuke did receive some glances from people, probably because of his ripped clothing and heavily bandaged body, but otherwise, no one noticed the purple haired teen. He did end up taking a stray newspaper from the lobby just as he exited the building. It was a long shot, but he figured there might be some information in the paper to help him.

"Okay," once Josuke had exited the hospital, he walked down the busy streets of New Jersey, careful not to bump into and to not make his injuries any worse. Once he reached the end of the street, he turned left and leaned up against the wall of, what looked like, a dry cleaner and began to read his newspaper. "Let's see what we..." He trailed off as he noticed something very strange about the people and the buildings around him.

For starters, the people around him were carrying small rectangular devices that fit in the palms of their hands, and some had the strange device up against their ear and looked like they were...talking to it. The paused for a few seconds before continuing to speak, as if they were talking to another person. Other people on the street who were not talking into the little rectangle had their eyes glued to these strange devices, seemingly unable to look away as they for some reason repeatedly tapped on the screen.

Then there were the buildings. Josuke had expected them to look different when compared to the ones in his home; after all, he came from a completely different culture. But he never thought the buildings around in America would look so...advanced. Japan was supposed to be the leading country in technology, yet here Josuke was staring at buildings that put everything he saw back home to shame, the metal constructs towering over everyone and yet no one but Josuke seemed to be astonished by this fact.

But what really caught his eyes were the large variety of posters stapled on almost every building. Some were advertising new movies Josuke had never heard of, which was strange because he almost always kept himself up to date on popular American movies. Others had pictures of computers, underneath the price for said device, and these computers were far smaller than the ones he was used to. And some of the banners were promoting new types of cars Josuke had never seen before, but there was one thing Josuke quickly noticed that made his eyes glued to the billboards in horrid fascination. One thing each ad had that only the young Josuke found absolutely terrifying.

The dates.

At the bottom of each ad, the year was stated in a somewhat small font, but Josuke still saw it and his heart sank into a deep, dark pit.

2016.

2016. Not 1999, but a full  _seventeen_  years later. Josuke was praying to whatever God was listening that this was some kind of mistake, that all these ads just had misprinted the wrong dates or something. But then Josuke slowly glanced down at the newspaper in his hand, only noticing now that his arms were trembling as he read the date on the paper.

2016.

"No..." Josuke whispered, feeling the sheer terror on his face spreading throughout his body. His eyes were wide, brimming with fear, and his blood stopped flowing for a moment. He dropped the paper, both because he couldn't look at it and because his hands were shaking too much to hold onto anything.

_No way_ _,_ Josuke had broken out into a cold sweat, his legs feeling numb not from his injuries but from the dread sinking its black and soul-crushing claws into his body. With shaky steps, he politely tapped on a business man's shoulder, who turned around and gave Josuke an irritated look.

"Excuse me, what year is it?" Josuke had never heard his own voice sound so quiet; so weak, so...destroyed.

The man raised a confused brow; his expression now looked as if he was wondering if Josuke had told a bad joke.

"2016," The man answered, before walking away from Josuke without another glance.

And Josuke stood perfectly still for a minute, and then promptly fell onto his knees on top of the dirty pavement below. A few people gave him odd looks, but he did not notice them.

He was too busy being absorbed by the storm of emotions going through his body to notice anything right now.

_What?_  Josuke thought, and it felt like he had just been pummeled and had his heart ripped out in front of him.

_This is...the future?_ His body went cold. And to Josuke he was back in the blizzard from his dream. He felt like he was back in the freezing snow, his body so stiff and unable to feel anything through his normal senses. All the breath had been sucked out of him as his heart hammered against his ribs.

And then, without any warning, Josuke's body no longer felt cold as a new emotion took over.

Anger.

Suddenly all Josuke could see was red, growling like a furious animal as he quickly stood up. His body was no longer trembling because of the overwhelming fear and panic he had just felt, but instead, he was shaking because fury was exploding within his soul. His face was coursing with rage as he looked up the sky before screaming so loud everyone in the city could hear his voice, switching back to his native tongue as he did so.

"WHAT THE FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCK!?"

* * *

"You sure you know where we're going?" A girl asked Steven, who gave her a big, goofy grin in response.

"Of course!" He shouted, feeling the fast winds flow through his curly locks. He was wearing his usual pink shirt and shorts as he admired the slightly cloudy sky above. "Well kinda, but don't worry, we'll get there. Isn't that right, Lion?"

Steven was currently riding an enormous beast running up a sharp and steep hill. The beast in question was, as its name implied, a lion, but not the usual lion one might see in a zoo. This lion fur was not brown or yellow, but instead, dark pink and had a dark brown heart shaped nose. Its mane was a lighter shade of pink than its fur, shaped in the form of a star. Its long tail was equally pink as its fur, and at the end of it, there was a tuft of soft and fluffy pink fur that would swish against the winds blowing on its body.

His almost chocolate black eyes looked up at its male passenger and offered Steven a soft growl as if agreeing with the boy. Lion was still a mystery to Steven, even after finding him in the desert so long ago, but Steven thought he was getting better at understanding his pink companion. There were still times, though, when Steven wished Lion would make an effort to try and communicate with Steven as opposed to him banging his head against a wall to try and figure out what his friend was saying. However, Steven knew his Lion would always be there for him; and vice versa.

"See, if Lion says yes then you know we're close. Since you can always trust magical lions."

The girl behind Steven gave a short chuckle, which Steven couldn't help thinking about how cute her laugh sounded, as she smiled at the Gem. "I guess."

The female passenger riding alongside Steven was a young, dark-skinned girl who was two years younger than Steven. She had long, waist length dark brown puffy hair, and on her wrist was a red neon plastic bracelet. She wore red sneakers, high-waisted blue shorts, and a white button-up tank top. Dark black eyes stared into the distance as she searched for their target.

"I just hope we find it soon, or else we're gonna miss the new episode of  _The Crying Breakfast Friends_."

This was Connie Maheswaran, Steven's best friend, and a fierce fighter when she wanted to be. Steven and Connie had been through so much together; it was a bit shocking to the Steven that the girl behind him used to be so quiet and shy. Connie had grown so much, even learning how to fight with a sword, that Steven couldn't help but think of her as one of the most amazing people he had ever met.

"Don't worry I recorded it, so we can take all day if we have to," Steven replied, though he kinda hoped it didn't take that long. He had a Cookie Cat waiting in the fridge with his name on it, and he really hoped Amethyst didn't already take it. "And I think we're almost there!"

"You said that fifteen minutes ago."

"Well, now we're even closer to getting there!"

Currently, the three were traveling in a forest-like area located on the outskirts of the main town. A plethora of trees surrounded the three adventurers even as Lion continued to run up the incline of pebbles and dirt, the tall oaks around them made it look like they were still in the same place. Every now and then Lion would circle or jump away from a tree in the middle of their path, causing Steven and Connie to let out surprised yet excited shouts.

The reason why they were riding on top of Lion in the middle of the vast woodland was because they were hunting for ghosts.

Well, according to Ronaldo anyway, one of Steven's more...eccentric friends. Ronaldo had declared with astounding confidence that he had found proof of the supernatural in one of Beach City's abandoned houses. Apparently, he had been investigating the woods too, in his words, "finally get in contact with our big-headed overlords;" he had climbed one of the tallest trees to get a better signal for a device that looked a lot like a microwave with a rusty antenna taped to its back.

And while up there he swore he saw something moving from a house at least a hundred feet away from him. Taking out his binoculars, Ronaldo said he saw that through the window of the house, and behind the curtains, there was...something moving there. Ronaldo had told Steven and Connie nobody had lived in the abanded house near the woods for years, so he figured it had to be a ghost.

Of course, he never got to confirm his suspicions, for he lost his balance while up so high in the tree, and promptly fell painfully to the ground below.

That was probably why the blond teen's arm was in a sling when he told him the story. Ronaldo then asked the two members of the Crystal Gems to investigate this matter in his stead, and he promised that if there were otherworldly dealings going on in that house, he would make sure they get the credit they deserved.

"I think I see it!" Steven shouted, and Lion finally reached the edge of the forest, leaping into a dirt road as the three had finally found exited the woods and could now see the house.

Ronaldo was right when he said the house was abandoned. What was once a tall, wide, Victorian gothic-esque house now looked like something out of a horror movie. The black paint had long since decayed, disgusting patches of brown mold now growing in certain spots and the insides of the outside wall were now exposed to the elements. The roof looked like a giant fist had smashed it, the tiles sinking down into the interior of the house; and to Steven, it looked like it might collapse from even the slightest touch. There were long streaks on the side of the house where the paint would coil up, looking like some kind of violent beast had scratched the already ruined building. Next to the house, there was what looked like the remains of a driveway, the stones now having large cracks that exposed large portions of decayed earth. All the windows scattered on the house's face were covered in cobwebs, the stills looking like they would fall off and hit the ground at any moment. The grass around the house was brown, so fragile that when a tiny breeze came by, bits of the lawn crumbled against the wind, now just specs floating through the air.

All of this made Steven a lot less excited, and he would be lying if he said if he wasn't creeped out.

"Huh," Connie said, hopping off Lion and walking on the dirt road. There was a touch of fear rising in her eyes as she stared at the house. "So...this is it."

"Yeah," Steven said slowly, getting off his trusted animal friend, looking over each and every part of the house. "Ronaldo wasn't kidding when he said the house was abandoned; this place looks like something I see in Kindergarten."

"It's really creepy," Connie said, and Steven could hear fear within her voice. "Maybe we should have gotten the other Gems."

"Oh, um," Steven hesitated, looking from side to side as he coughed into his fist. "I figured this wouldn't be a big deal, I mean, I just assumed it wasn't anything we needed to bother the Gems with. Ronaldo did say it was just a ghost and not some big monster."

"Well, and I don't wanna sound mean or anything, but do you really think Ronaldo saw some kind of a ghost?" Connie asked, raising a curious eyebrow toward Steven. "I don't know him that well, but he seems a little...obsessed; like the kind of guy who thinks anything remotely weird is automatically something paranormal."

"Yeah..." Steven hesitated again, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand. "He's a little out there, but still he's my friend, and I felt bad he couldn't investigate this creepy...almost menacing... and most likely smelly house." As the words left Steven's mouth, he became a little less sure as to whether or not it was unlucky that Ronaldo had broken his arm, looking at the house with dread and anxious filled eyes.

He quickly shook his head as he got rid of those thoughts. He was a Crystal Gem, so he shouldn't be afraid of some house. "But still, he basically begged us to go have a look, so I think the least we can do is search the place just for a few minutes."

Connie still looked a little fearful, and even Lion was letting out low growls of anger, as if sensing something was wrong with the house. But still, they had to go in there. "And for all we know, Ronaldo might have seen some kind of corrupted Gem, and if it is one, we have to at least try to take care of it. And if we can't, well, I guess we just go back for help."

Connie still looked unsure, looking at the house with nervous eyes. So, Steven wrapped an enthusiastic arm around his friend. "I know it looks a little scary, but we've been through way worse stuff than this. Even if there is some kind of Gem in their, we can handle it. We did beat Jasper after all."

"... Yeah, You're right Steven," Connie said after a short pause, before smiling slightly at the shorter boy. He was glad he could make his best friend smile again. "At least I'm going into this place with a lion and an awesome butt kicker like you."

"Heh, thanks," Steven looked back towards the house, noticing that there were more clouds in the sky which blocked the sun and made the world around them a little darker. Slowly, he became lost in thought as he walked forward along with Connie from the dirt road towards the lawn, Lion following slowly behind them and still letting out displeased growls.

Truth be told, there was another motive for Steven not wanting to ask the Gems for help. He wanted to prove to himself that he had gotten stronger and that he wasn't a burden to the Gems, especially for solving simple matters such as this. The ominous warning Ruby had told them about the future had made Steven get more serious about his training, making sure he could and would protect his family and friends. His body became a little cold as he remembered the way Ruby trembled, and how Sapphire would not wake up.

That had been several weeks ago, and since then the Gems and Steven had been on edge. Immediately after Ruby and Sapphire refused into Garnet, Steven and Amethyst had gotten Lapis and Peridot, all of the Gems meeting in the temple as they listened to the fusion. While the leader of the Crystal Gems could not remember the specific details of what she saw, she knew that the visions she had seen told her something dangerous was coming to Beach City and the Gems had to be on the lookout for even the slightest disturbance.

And so, ever since the foreboding warning Garnet gave, Steven and his family had been dealing with a variety of enemies. Though Garnet wasn't sure if these were the people her future vision had warned her about, that didn't make them any less of a threat. Like Jasper, the fierce Homeworld warrior who they finally managed to capture and end her schemes before she could even execute them. Unfortunately, she had corrupted her gem after a battle between her and Smokey Quartz, Amethyst and Steven's fusion. Then there was the time they had tricked a squadron of Rubies into taking him, Pearl, Garnet, and Amethyst up to the moon in an attempt to get the little soldiers to leave earth once and for all. But when he and a Ruby he nicknamed Eyeball ended up floating in one of his bubbles through space together the warrior from Homeworld had tried to kill him; Steven was forced to push the red Gem out of his bubble and into the never-ending void of that was space.

And then there was Bismuth...a Gem who Steven should have been friends with, a kind and warm person the young Gem and everyone seemed to like more and more with each second they spent with her. Someone who only wanted to help her friends, but her hatred for the Homeworld Gems made her do things that she thought was for the greater good. However, in Steven's eyes, Bismuth's actions and belief of doing whatever it takes to defeat the ones who made her friends suffer so much made her just as cruel as the Homeworld Gems. Which was why...he had to bubble her before she could hurt him or anyone else with her powerful weapons or dangerous ideas.

He tried not to dwell on these thoughts too much, but that was proving more difficult with each passing day as his mind kept bringing up those painful memories. Guilt ate away at his conscience almost every day since he had to imprison Bismuth in the same way his mother had so many years ago. And lately, his mother was another thing he had been obsessing over the last few weeks, stirring up so many feeling, some ranging as far as hope and others sinking below to despair, as he sometimes heard Bismuth's voice whisper into his ear.

_"You really are better than her."_

Who was Rose Quartz? Why did it seem like the more Steven learned about his mom, the more he realized he didn't really know her at all. She had so many secrets, but why? Why couldn't she share them with anyone, like the Gems or even his dad? Why was it Pearl, Amethyst, and Garnet always assured him his mother was the kindest person imaginable when as of late Steven had-

"Steven?"

"Huh?" Steven was so absorbed in his thoughts he had forgotten he was with Connie, his best friend looking at him with a worried look in her black eyes. "Sorry, did you say something?"

"I was just asking if you're okay, you looked like you zone out for a bit," Connie said as she looked Steven.

"Oh, sorry, I was just...thinking about some things," Steven said, and before Connie got a chance to ask what he was thinking about, he put on a big smile and grabbed her hand. "But don't worry about it. Now, let's go into that haunted house!" He shouted as he ran at full speed, the grass beneath crumbling under his sandals as he and Connie let out small laughs. Lion quickly followed, rushing to catch up to the two children, though it still looked uneasy going near the house.

He couldn't let Connie worry about him, that wouldn't be fair to her. So he decided to bubble away his feelings like he usually did and instead focus on the good things around him. Such as helping his friends and going on fun little adventures like the one he was on now. He really doubted there would be any trouble inside the house since it was Ronaldo who reported the strange occurrences, and it was likely he saw nothing and was just imagining the whole thing.

(And as Steven ran towards the decaying home, he never noticed there was someone lurking in the shadows behind a set of curtains, watching the three through a window as they entered the house. The figure then narrowed its eyes and frowned.)

* * *

It was worse than he thought.

If someone had told Josuke ten minutes ago there are worse things then being stuck seventeen years into the future, he would have had Crazy Diamond beat them to a pulp and not stop until that person was a bloody corpse.

But now he realized there were worse things than being transported to the future.

Like being transported to  _an entirely different world._

Soon after he had let out his anger in an ear-shattering shout, he had rushed to the nearest library, intent on finding a computer to look up his home. He needed to learn what had changed, if his friends were still alive, and what had happened to Morioh since he was gone. And he realized the fastest way to do that was to use a computer. So despite his wounds roaring in pain as he ran at speeds no one so injured as him should be able to, he searched the city as he pushed past the pain burning inside him. Once he had found a library, he quickly found the nearest computer and started to type away. The internet had changed a lot since 1999; it was faster and much easier to get the information he needed.

He wished he never found the damn thing.

For once he had typed in Morioh into the machine, he had found nothing about his town.

At first, he thought maybe the computer wasn't working properly, but the librarian, a tall brown-haired man in his late thirties, told him they were working just fine. He also said that the search engines looked through millions of articles, data, and websites so if it didn't find anything he suggested that maybe Josuke had misspelled whatever he was searching for.

But he hadn't. He had tried every variation he could think of for Morioh in the English language, but he still came up with nothing. He then decided to take a longer route, looking up The Miyagi Prefecture and then searched through the hundreds of towns and cities within it.

And out of all those hundreds of towns, not a single one of them was Morioh.

He was getting angrier with each word he typed, which was good because his frustrations blocked out the panic rising in his chest. He decided to type in The Speedwagon Foundation, no longer bothering to try and find Morioh on the computer. He decided he should focus on finding some way to get back to his friends, he would figure out what changes the future had done to the world he knew later, and the Speedwagon foundation should be able to do that once he found their contact information. And since it was such a large and well-known organization he was sure that this dumb computer would find  _something._

It didn't.

Josuke started to get desperate, his anger slowly fading as the fear inside him kept doubling in size with each search he conducted.

He typed in Jotaro Kujo, a respected marine biologist who had made breakthroughs in his field, but got nothing.

He typed Kishibe Rohan, who was one of the most famous modern mangakas and had sold millions of copies of his work worldwide

He typed in Joseph Joestar, a famous real estate mogul and who owned several organizations in America, but got nothing.

By now his eyes had practically widened out of their sockets; the terror he was feeling was clear on every part of his expression. And slowly, a thought crept into his head and with great trepidation, he typed in several extraordinary events that had happened throughout history. The massacres that had happened in Egypt caused by things that no one had ever solved and the damage that had been done to its land. The volcanic eruption that happened in 1939 near Sicily that had massive effects on the environment for decades. He typed in every strange and supernatural story that had captured the attention of the world into the computer.

And like before, he had found nothing.

It was as he was shaking like a leaf, his anger long gone and his heart plunging into a seemingly bottomless abyss of horror, that he had a thought. A stray, random thought that just appeared in his mind without any warning.

The reason why he couldn't find out anything he knew about the world on the computer was because this wasn't  _his world._

He had honestly laughed at the thought; a cold, bitter laugh escaped his lips before he even thought about it. There was no way that was true. Sure, he dealt with things that no normal person ever had to deal with, but traveling to a new world was a stretch even for him. It was stupid to even consider that was a possibility.

He had let out another hollow laugh after that. And then without meaning to, he had thought back to several books and movies about dimensional travel; he thought of stories where the hero would be in denial over the obvious fact that they were stuck in an entirely new world. He always thought it was dumb that they never noticed how all the evidence was supporting-.

More laughs escaped him; a twitchy smile had spread across his lips.

No. There was no way. There was...there were plenty of reasons to explain what was happening.

More laughs. And each one had been incredibly brittle and quiet.

After all...traveling to dimension was impossi-.

Josuke had suddenly remembered everything that he had gone through. Fighting against spirits of will, getting burned and beaten by powers that should not be possible. Having to train his own impossible abilities so that he could defeat a man who should not exist. A man who  _should not be possible._

And then he had remembered Jotaro's words.

_For us Stand Users, anything is possible, Josuke._

And it was then that he accepted the horrible fact, and every part of him seemed to shatter.

His home and everyone he knew was gone because he had left their world. He had somehow traveled across dimensions or universes or  _whatever the fuck_  was the term and was now as far as any man could be from his home. And it was then that Josuke realized why he was scared in the hospital. Not because he was in America, but because there was a part of him that believed he would never get home when that doctor told him he had been ripped away from his town. Somehow his instincts thought that he would never get to see his Mom, Koichi, Okuyasu, Jotaro, hell even Rohan or any of his friends ever again.

And they were right.

His lips had never been in a deeper frown as he stared at the computer with unblinking eyes.

"Motherfucker," Josuke whispered, slowly reclining back in his chair as his entire body now felt numb. "This is just..." He trailed off, unable to finish his sentence as the misery swirling within him continued to grow.

Never had Josuke felt so depressed. Never had the purple haired teen felt so alone. He should have just died in that tunnel. At least then Josuke wouldn't have to live in a hell where he was alive, but he couldn't tell any of his friends or family he was still breathing. What were they even thinking right now? That he had died, protecting his town? That he had sacrificed everything in order to avenge his fallen friends? Were they worried that he was still alive somewhere, bleeding buckets of blood and praying they would find him in time?

Josuke found himself sinking deeper and deeper into the dark recesses of his psyche as he sighed; a large, melancholic sigh.

_Well, whatever they're thinking about, I doubt they could ever guess that I was transported to another damn world._  Josuke thought bitterly, his mouth shifting into an angry frown. He hated seeing his loved ones suffer, and them brokenhearted as they wondered about Josuke's ultimate fate was the cruelest deed he had ever committed to them. Why was it that just whenever it looked like Josuke and his friends were finally about to get a happy ending, the universe just had to fuck them over?

"Damn," Josuke said, voice still a whisper and eyes now full of sorrow. Slowly he got up, limping away from the computer. He had no idea where he was even walking to, he was so lost as to what he should do now, and for a moment he thought about just living the rest of his life in this crappy library; but he crushed that thought in almost an instant. He kept thinking about how isolated he was from his friends, from his  _home._  With each step he took, sorrow grew in his chest; his entire body now felt heavy and immovable, and it wasn't because of his wounds that he felt so...exhausted.

God damn it, being alone in a new world sucked ass.

As he was walking down a set of long, empty stairs, not sure when he had gotten there, his eyes looked to the floor.

Damn it...what the hell was he supposed to do now?

He took another slow, painful step down.

How...how the hell was he supposed to get back home? He had nothing in this new world; no friends, no resources, just...nothing.

Another step.

Could he even get home?

His frown somehow got even deeper.

...Right now, it didn't look poss-.

He had been so absorbed in his thoughts that he bumped into someone as he took another step down the stairs. He bit back a hiss of pain as he quickly grabbed onto the staircase railing to prevent himself from falling.

"Sorry," Josuke said, even though he didn't really mean that word. He looked up from the floor to whoever he walked into, "I didn't..." Josuke didn't finish his sentence as he realized the person he had hit was not some random person.

Instead, what he had walked into was his Stand.

Josuke blinked, staring at Crazy Diamond as it floated a few feet ahead of him.

"What's wrong?" Josuke asked, slowly turning his head from side to side. He hadn't called his Stand, and it only ever came out by itself when-.

Josuke sighed.

"God damn it, is someone trying to attack us again?" Josuke asked, and that thought should have worried him. But he didn't feel even slightly anxious as his voice sounded almost...dead.

Crazy Diamond shook its head. And Josuke raised his brows at his Stand.

"Then, what is it?" Josuke asked, and at first, his Stand did nothing.

But then Crazy Diamond slowly pointed a metal covered finger at Josuke. The Stand then clutched its hand into a fist as it slammed its hand hard against his chest. Specifically over the silver heart motif that was in the same spot as Josuke's.

He blinked a few times at his Stands actions. And then his eyes widened as he remembered.

He remembered all the times he trained with his Stand.

The times he spent trying to figure out new ways to use Crazy Diamond abilities to their maximum potential.

And all the times where he and his Stand had fought together. Side by side, always helping each other and always being there for the other.

He instantly understood what Crazy Diamond was trying to say.

_You're not alone._

Josuke smiled. A small smile, but it was still genuine as he stared at Crazy Diamond. "You're right, I'm not alone," he said letting out a small chuckle. "It could get a lot worse, but at least I've got you by my side."

Josuke wasn't alone. He had his Stand with him, and while he might be stuck in a new world without any clue as to how anything worked, at least he had someone he could always count on resting in his soul.

For a second, Crazy Diamond allowed a ghost of a smile to grace its lips. Josuke then continued to walk down the steps as Crazy Diamond floated by his side.

Still, he would be lying to himself if he said having Crazy Diamond around made this world suck any less. He was still away from his family, and he had no idea as to how to get back.

Josuke's lips moved into a firm line.

But he would get back. He had to get back. There had to be some way to get back; if he traveled through dimension once, then he could do it again.

"Well, if- _when_ I do get back it will make one hell of a story." He let out another chuckle, though this one barely had any humor in it. Josuke then turned his head towards Crazy Diamond. "At the very least, having you me should make adjusting to this place a hell of a lot easier." Once Josuke reached the bottom of the flight of stairs and onto the landing, he noticed a large window on the right wall that let him view outside; Josuke saw that at some point it had begun to rain as the window dripped with thick streams of water.

And suddenly, the city in front of him transformed into Morioh. Specifically, into the streets where he and Kira had had their last battle. Josuke could see the murderer, bloody and standing on wobbling legs with his Stand levitating right behind him, giving Josuke its emotionless stare. Josuke could still remember the look of terror Kira had on just before Crazy Diamond had clobbered the murderer to death.

"He's lucky he got off that easily." Josuke eyes narrowed as he thought more and more about the murderer. At the very least, he could say he had saved his city from the psychotic Stand User. That was the only thing that truly raised his spirits, knowing that he had rid the world of such a cruel psychopath and prevented him from ever hurting anyone else again. And now that he had ended Kira Yoshikage's life in that tunnel, his friends could rest in peace. The bastard was probably rotting in hell right now.

Josuke continued to stare at the window. He continued to think about Kira and the look the murderer gave him just before he disappeared into that wall of light.

...Probably?

Josuke saw Kira glaring at him. He saw the man who somehow always outmaneuvered him and his friends. The man who somehow always got away when by all means he should have died so long ago.

Probably?

Josuke could only see Kira's smile now. That arrogant, superior smile he had worn when Killer Queen had held Hayato in its hand. When it had seemed like Kira had once again overcome all the odds.

"No..."Josuke whispered, his eyes slowly widening. There was no way...it couldn't be. Thinking like that was stupid. Kira was dead; he would never harm another person ever again.

...So why was there a part of him that was almost screaming that the bastard was still alive?

"There's no fucking way," Josuke said, scowling as he clenched his hand into a fist. "I broke every bone in his body, and that bastard was swallowed by that weird ass light tunnel. There's no way he could have survived-."

Josuke stopped talking as he realized that it was possible. Because he had survived that tunnel. Josuke was badly injured, absorbed by some kind of black lava, and ended up in a new world alive and well. So why couldn't Kira, a man who always beat the odds, a man who was one of the strongest Stand Users Josuke had ever met, live through the same ordeal he had?

Josuke let out a growl. A growl that was full of anger as he gnashed his teeth together

"No..." The lines on Josuke's face tightened as he glared at the window; Crazy Diamond expression had become grave as it now stood right next to its master. If Kira was alive, then that means he was living his normal "tranquil" life of blowing people up and turning their bodies to dust.

Slowly, Josuke reached into his pocket and pulled out a ball of ripped clothing. Somehow Josuke had held onto Kira's makeshift bomb, and inside the piece of discarded robes, there was a single strand of Kira's hair.

"Just stay dead you sick fuck," Josuke said, and despite his anger, there was still fear creeping within his voice as he gave the strand to Crazy Diamond, who held it in between its pointer and thumb. Crazy Diamond reformed objects, if said object was something connected to living matter, both Josuke and Crazy Diamond could feel the presence of the living object as if it were right in front of them.

So as the strand of hair was covered in a yellow aura, Josuke could feel Kira Yoshikage's life energy; and to him, the murderer might as well had been standing right in front of him. The intense and violent energy Josuke felt from this single strand of hair was enough to confirm his theory, his chest flaring with a fiery rage.

Kira Yoshikage was alive.

"No!" Josuke shouted, hands clenched so tightly his knuckles turned white.

And then the strand of hair flew away from Crazy Diamond's fingers and flew to a brochure pinned to the wall right across from Josuke. The Stand User ran towards the wall and saw the hair had stabbed itself right into the brochure.

It was advertising for people to visit a town called Beach City.

* * *

"Well, nothing so far," Steven said to himself, eyes glancing around as he took in his surroundings. "But, I should probably keep looking, just in case."

After entering the house, he and Connie had decided to split up to better cover the abandoned building, Lion going with Connie and looking downstairs as Steven took the upstairs. And after climbing a long staircase of rotten wood, which was so unstable that Steven's foot had made a hole in the steps, Steven had entered a long, wide hallway. What were once dark purple walls and red velvet floor had now lost their colors, looking ten shades darker than they should be as mold grew in a few spots. Old paintings were hanging on the wall, but of what Steven couldn't tell because they were smudged beyond recognition. Several doors were built into either side of the hall, but most had rotted so much that the paint had fallen from their frames. Insects of all kinds seemed to build their nest inside the splinters of the wall, and Steven had more than a few times walked into a spider's web. And the ceiling above Steven had large cracks going through it and was so unstable that the young Gem had to dodge a chunk of brick and concrete that fell from above, almost hitting his head.

This was not a very safe house to be in. Still, Steven continued his search for anything out of the ordinary. He would admit that he was still unsettled going through such a gloomy house, but the longer he spent searching, the more he got used to the creepy atmosphere. And so far Steven had found nothing, checking all the rooms on this floor, looking under smelly beds and inside dusty closets for any kind of specters; but so far Steven had found nothing.

Though, maybe that was because Steven wasn't sure exactly where a ghost would be hiding since he never met one before. The closest thing Steven had met to a genuine spirit was when he had been to the lighthouse for Ronaldo's horror movie club and had encountered a Gem that acted like a poltergeist. But other than that, Steven really had no idea how to find a ghost, or even know if there was some spirit near-

Suddenly, as he was searched another room, his head looking inside a dusty vase, he heard the wood creaking behind him. Pulling his head out of the vase, he turned around and saw that the door behind him was slightly cracked opened, swaying a little as Steven moved closer.

"I thought I closed that door?" Steve said as he peaked his head out into the hallway, eyes scanning the long hall before exiting the room and into the wide passage. Steven looked around to see if there was anything that shouldn't be in the hall but found nothing out of place.

"The wind probably opened it or something," Steven muttered. And just as he said that, the door behind him slammed shut, the loud noise echoing in the empty hall. Steven let out a frightened yelp as he jumped forward a little, whirling around to the door as his heart leapt to his throat.

"That was probably the wind too...right?" He asked himself, trying to calm his nerves as he took a step back. However, through the corner of his eyes, Steven saw a shadow run from a door behind him towards the stairs. Steven once again let out another yelp as he whipped around, but the shadow was gone already.

"L-Lion?" Steven raised his voice a little, hoping to hear the familiar growls of his pink friend. "Connie? Is that you?" He was hoping for one of them to answer, but Steven heard no reply. And all of sudden, the dark corners of the walls and floors looked a lot more intimidating to Steven. And for a second, he saw flashes of Eyeball, Jasper, and Bismuth appear before him, each Gem ready to end him with their attacks. And in the next second, he was back in the threatening house as he swallowed audibly.

_You're a Crystal Gem Steven, you can't be scared of a ghost._ He thought, before clearing his throat to speak. "Um, am I speaking to the ghost of this house?" Steven asked seemingly no one, as he walked forward to the end of the hall. "Because, if I am, I just want to let you know I don't mean any harm. I'm just here to help out my friend, who actually really loves the supernatural, so there's no reason..." Steven trailed off as he reached the end of the hall, now having to turn right at the corner to get to the stairs. The same stairs he was sure that shadow headed too. "To do whatever it is spirits do to people they don't like."

Steven let out a shaky breath, steeling himself as he tried to control the fear growing within him. In the next moment, Steven jumped around the corner, his quartz gem glowing pink as he prepared to face some kind of ghost.

But all he saw were the crooked stairs.

"Whew," Steven let out a relieved sigh as his gem stopped glowing. "You were just overreacting Steven," He said, but then he felt something... awful coming from behind him; it made the young teen break out into a cold sweat. He slowly turned around, and what he saw made his eyes widen in fright.

Steven found himself staring at a man, he couldn't see what the man was wearing or really see any of the man's physical traits except for his black eyes. But even though he could barely see the man, even though Steven knew that he was just looking at a man and not some ghost or alien...in this moment, Steven Quartz Universe had never been more terrified in his entire life.

Because the man's eyes were cold and unfeeling, they were eyes that promised Steven pain. The man in front of Steven was radiating malice, his terrifying gaze drilling into Steven who suddenly felt like he couldn't breathe. Most of the man's body was covered in the shadows of the house, and those shadows only made the man look incredibly intimidating. The man in front of Steven looked like scarier than any Corrupt Gem he had faced; Steven could see claws hanging in front of him and ready to tear him from limb at any second. A black aura seemed to surround the man, and through the man's uncaring eyes, Steven could see a monster about to strike, a monster that lived within the man's soul. And as the man took a single step away from the shadows, all the terror Steven had been feeling tripled as the cruelty coming from the man enveloped Steven; the cruelty was so heavy it crushed every part of his body. And something else had attacked every fiber of Steven's being... Something he could not recognize but he knew it was something evil.

Steven's entire body was trembling as he took a step back. However he was not watching where he was going, so he tripped on a loose floorboard, which sent him spiraling down the long staircase behind him.

"AAAAAAAAH!" Steven shouted as he tumbled painfully down the winding staircase, crashing into the railings as he descended. After dozens of painful steps, Steven finally reached the end as he crashed headfirst onto the floor. He had tumbled all the way back to the lobby right in front of the entrance.

"Owww," Stever groaned. Thankfully his Gem biology made it so he only got a few scratches from his tumble, but his head was still screaming from all the punishment it had just taken.

But through the dizziness, Steven could clearly hear the sounds of footsteps walking down the same stairs he had just fallen down. Despite the fear twisting his blood, Steven quickly got up; he whirled around and prepared to take out his shield, his gem once again glowing bright magenta. He dealt with monsters on a daily basis, so the fear he was feeling right now towards a random person was ridiculous.

However, just as he turned to face the man, he spoke.

"Are you alright?"

That stopped Steven for a second as he quickly looked over the man, now able to see him in full clarity. The man had a loosely combed head of wavy blond hair, with only a few strands out of place and had a dark blue business suit with equally blue pants. Underneath the jacket was a white, buttoned-up business shirt that had purple pinstripes running down it in straight lines. He had on an expensive-looking watch, well-shined black shoes, and a black tie patterned with a column of skulls with almost cat-like ears.

But the two things that stuck out the most to Steven was one, the man's eyes were...purple? Steven was sure they were black before. And the second thing was that all the pressure he had felt from the suffocating aura Steven thought the man was emitting was gone. Instead, the man eyes' were warm as he looked over Steven's body in concern. Seeing such care and sympathy within the man's expression, Steven was a little shocked. Had he imagined all those terrifying features from before on the man? He would admit, he had been more than a little stressed lately, and he probably could use some more sleep if he were being honest, so maybe he had imagined all of it.

It was then Steven noticed the man was crouched down, extending the hand towards the young Gem who was still lying on the floor.

"Um...yeah, I'm fine, just a little roughed up," Steven said as he reached for the man's hand.

"Well, that's good, I was worried for a moment." The man said, a hint of an accent in his voice, but from where Steven could not tell. The amount of kindness in the man's voice cast away any lingering doubts; what he saw had just been his imagination. Steven was feeling a bit embarrassed that he thought such a nice man was some kind of monster.

Just as Steven was about to touch the man's fingers, he saw from the corner of his eye a pink comet rushing from a long hallway to the left of him and slam into the man.

"Gyaaaah!" The blond haired man shouted as he crashed onto the old floor. It was then Steven saw the pink blur was in fact, Lion, but for a second Steven didn't recognize the pink beast.

Because Lion's eyes were pure white, his friend letting out loud and vicious growls that reminded Steven that Lion was still a ferocious animal. Lion's teeth were dangerously close to the man's throat, and the man looked like he was having trouble dealing with Lion's weight as his expression became a little strained.

"Wha-Lion get off him!" Steven quickly shouted, running towards the pink animal and attempting to push his friend off the man. But Lion would not budge, still snarling at the man and glaring at him with furious white eyes.

"I..said...get...OFF!" Gathering every bit of strength within him, Steven gave one mighty shove and the pink beast was finally pushed off the man as Lion landed a short distance away. The blond haired man let out a few coughs before he got back on his feet; and despite the fact he just had a lion charge into him, he looked uninjured as he calmly wiped the dust off his suit.

"Are you okay?" Steven asked the man, who looked down at Steven with a small smile.

"Yes, you're pet just took me by surprise." Right as the man said that, the two heard Lion let out another roar as it charged at the man again. This time, though, Steven was able to intercept the pink beast, wrapping his short arms around Lion's neck just as the beast got close and was able to stop his friend from moving any further. Though, this did not stop Lion from thrashing his head about in an attempt to get Steven to let go of his neck.

"Lion, what's wrong with you?" Steven said as Lion continued to growl and snarl at the man. Steven shot a glance back at the man as he gave him a nervous smile. "I'm so sorry, he's normally not like this. I swear he's really sweet once you get to know him."

"... You'll forgive me if I find that statement a little doubtful." The man said as he narrowed his eyes at both Steven and Lion, and that simple act made Lion thrash even more violently.

"Lion, seriously, stop!" Steven raised his voice at his lovable friend before giving a quick but powerful flick to Lion's nose. Lion actually staggered backward a little from the hit. Steven knew how sensitive Lion's nose was so that flick probably stung a lot. He had never had to resort to punishing Lion before, and he instantly hated the fact that he caused his good buddy pain, but he had to stop Lion before he did something stupid.

Honestly, why was he acting so strangely?

"Bad Lion!" Steven shouted, pointing a finger right at Lion's face. "You can't eat the nice man over there! Understand?!" Lion looked at Steven with a large frown, looking at the young teen with his usual impassive expression, and Steven had on an unusually serious face as he glared slightly at the pink animal.

Finally, giving one last snarl to the blond man, the pink lion let out a displeased growl as he nodded its head begrudgingly.

"Glad we're on the same page," Steven nodded his head as he turned towards the man; and as he did so, he saw Connie emerge from the same hallway Lion came from and running towards him.

"Steven, are you okay?!" She said, slightly out of breath as she was now only a few feet away from Steven and Lion. "When I was searching the house, Lion suddenly stopped walking, and then it bolted, and then I heard your scream and I was so worried.

"It's okay I'm fine," Steven said, cheeks blushing slightly as he learned Connie had heard him screaming over nothing. "I just fell down some stairs."

"Are you sure you're..." It was then Connie noticed the blond haired man standing a dozen feet away from them. "Who's this?" Connie asked.

"The owner of this house," The man said, raising a brow at the three of them. "And I'm rather curious as to why two children and a lion are in my humble abode."

"Oh, we're so sorry sir!" Connie quickly apologized, her face growing incredibly flustered as her eyes glanced nervously to the floor. "Our friend thought he saw something weird going on here, so he asked us to come check out this house. And we figured no one lived here because it looks so-." Before she could finish, a large chunk of the ceiling fell and crashed loudly onto the floor.

"...Abandoned," She said, trying to use a somewhat nicer word than awful.

"Well, I can see how you could make such a mistake." The man began, adjusting his tie as he looked around the lobby. "Truth be told, I know this house looks ugly, but it speaks to me, and ever since I bought it I feel comfortable whenever I enter this place."

"So..are you new to Beach City? Where are you from?" Steven asked, excitement running throughout his voice. He had never seen the man before, and from how the man made it sound like, the blond-haired man seemed to have moved into this house only recently. Ae loved meeting new people, to him it was a chance to make new friends.

"I'm from Japan, Sendai if you want to be specific. And I've been here for about a month now, so I suppose I'm technically new." He answered

"Wow, I've always wanted to go to Japan, It must be awesome there," Connie said before raising a brow in confusion. "And...aren't houses like this usually not for sale?"

"Well, it wasn't, but I made the former owner an offer he couldn't refuse." The man said, before giving the two children a smile. "And I must say, ever since I moved here this town has been nothing but a delight for me. I haven't been this happy in a long time."

Steven smiled at those words. "Yeah, Beach City's great." Curiosity filled Steven's face as he rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "So, how come I haven't seen you in town?"

"I am a rather quiet person, you see." The blond man said, "I usually don't talk with anyone, and since I am new here, there's no one to talk to."

"Well, now you know some people!" Steven exclaimed as he wrapped his arm around Connie. "I'm Steven Universe, and to my right is Connie, while to my left..." He gave a nudge in Lion's direction. "Is my good pink buddy Lion."

Lion responded with a short roar at the blond-haired man. Connie jumped a little, not expecting the normally quiet Lion to let out such a hostile roar. She looked at Steven with a confused expression, most likely trying to ask Steven what was up with his friend.

"Hehe, I'm really sorry, I don't know why he's acting like this," Steven said nervously.

"It's alright, bar a few exceptions, animals have never really like me." The man said, looking at Lion before giving a small chuckle. "Though as to why I have no idea. It's like they see something in me other people don't." He then raised an eyebrow as he looked over Steven. "And did you say Universe? As in, the same Steven Universe who is a part of the Crystal...Diamonds?

"The Crystal Gems!" Steven corrected, as his lips turned into a wide smile. "You know about us?"

"I thought you two looked familiar," the man said, placing a hand under his chin. "When I first arrived at this town, and whenever I go out to get supplies, everyone won't stop talking about how amazing you two are. Even on my first day here, I saw you two bravely stand up to two monsters rising from the sea right before you defeated them with ease."

The two children looked abashed at such praise. Connie let out a shy chuckle as Steven rubbed his head before speaking. "It was nothing really; we were just doing what we do."

"I've never seen such creatures before in my life, Corrupted Gems I believe is the official term. And I've heard that you defeat such terrifying monsters on a daily basis. Is that true?"

"Well, not really monsters, more like...misunderstood and confused animals, but yeah. Me, Connie and the other Gems do that," Steven replied.

"So, is it also true you store all these 'animals' in that statue on the cliff?

"Oh you mean the temple," Connie said before she nodded her head. "Yeah, I've never seen it myself, but Steven says he's got hundreds of Corrupted Gem's stored in bubbles that just float around all day in one of the rooms." She explained

"Well, after seeing what you two can do, I have no doubts you've defeated plenty of those frightening creatures. I'm sure you two must be very proud of your skills. As I'm sure your families are too."

Connie gave the man a sheepish smile, and Steven also gave the man a smile, but his seemed a little forced. After all, his abilities when compared to his mothers were subpar at best. And though the other Gems constantly told him he was making great progress, he couldn't help like they were lying to him just to spare his feelings.

It wouldn't be the first time they did something like that.

"Well, I think we should go and tell Ronaldo that his ghost was just Mr... I'm sorry I don't think I caught your name?" Connie said

"Oh, of course, It's K-" He stopped himself short before continuing. "Araki, Araki Hirohiko." The man now known as Araki Hirohiko finished.

"Well, It's nice to meet you, sir," Connie said, extending her hand, but Araki looked at her palm quizzically.

"Ms. Maheswaran, you appear to have cut yourself." Both Steven and Connie looked at her palm and saw a diagonal cut in the center of her palm. The tiniest bit of blood dripped from the wound.

"Oh, I guess I must have scraped my hand on the wall or something."

"Allow me," Araki pulled out a bandage from his breast pocket as he lightly placed it on top of Connie's cut. "I would advise you to be a bit more careful in the future, Ms. Maheswaran. A woman's hands are very delicate...and very beautiful things." He wiped away the blood trickling down Connie's palm with his fingers. "It would be a shame if something irrevisable happened to your hands before you reached adulthood. So do try and be careful in the future."

Lion let out another intense growl, which made Steven narrow his eyes at the pink animal. "Lion, stop it."

"Um, Okay I will," Connie said, looking a touch confused as to what Araki was trying to say. "And you can just call me Connie."

"Alright then Connie," Araki then shook his friend's hand. "It was a pleasure to meet you." He then looked towards Steven, giving the young teen a big smile with closed eyes. "And it was a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Universe."

He extended his hand towards Steven.

"Steven's fine Mr. Hirohiko," Steven said as he shook the man's hand.

"And you both can call me Araki." Steven and Araki stopped shaking each others' hand as the young Gem and Connie walked towards the door, Lion following behind the two. They waved goodbye as they exited the house, and Araki waved back as he slowly walked up to his door and closed it.

Though, for just a second, Steven thought he saw something standing behind Araki.

But whatever he thought he saw, it was gone in the next second. Steven shook his head as he believed that it was just his imagination acting up again.

"He seemed nice," Connie said, snapping the boy's attention back to reality.

"Yeah, I think he's a good guy," he then looked back to Lion, who was looking at the decaying house with a snarl. "But Lion doesn't seem to think so."

"I wonder what's got him so angry?" Connie asked

"I have no idea," Steven answered as he approached Lion. "It's time to go home, buddy. Think you can give us a ride?" He asked with a tiny grin. Whatever was bothering Lion, Steven would make sure to get to the bottom of when they got home. It wouldn't be good if Lion tried to maim Araki every time he sees him.

Lion gave one last look to the house, and then he signaled for Steven and Connie to hop on. After the two were firmly seated, Lion took off like a bullet, almost like he wanted to get away from the house as quickly as possible.

(It would not be until much later that Steven and Connie would learn why Lion seemed so distressed by Araki.

And it would be much later that they would learn of the true monster living in that house.)

* * *

After "Araki" closed the door, he was still smiling. However, his eyes now held a maliciousness that made the smile seem positively demonic.

"Araki" soon walked towards a full body mirror that was placed near the bottom of the stairs. For several minutes "Araki" looked deeply into the mirror, running his fingers along the lines of his face and cheeks.

"I still can't believe this is happening," "Araki" said, chuckling as he took a step back. He had never realized how good it was to see one's face looking back at you through a mirror. The sight of his healthy face and slick hair made him truly appreciate how comfortable it was to be in your own skin. "I have my face back, I have been transported to a place I can live my ideal life, and best of all almost all of my enemies are gone now."

Almost being the keyword.

A spark of anger was ignited within "Araki's" chest as his lips moved into a frown. He did not know how, but he knew there was someone hunting him. Somehow even after going through that tunnel, somehow even after he had survived through his injuries and a hell that would make other men weep, somehow even after traveling to an entirely different dimension... Josuke Higashikata was still the needlessly stubborn splinter that "Araki" could not get rid of.

"Josuke... I don't know where you are, I don't know if you'll find me," "Araki" looked through a dusty window to the town so far off into the distance, a smile on his lips. "But if you do, I can promise you, this time, I won't lose."

Of course, there were other things that might get in "Araki's" way. Such as the Crystal Gems, a group he thought was just the inane rambling of idiots until he actually saw them on the very first day he arrived in this town. After seeing that, he had learned everything he could about the "protectors" of Beach City.

"I never would have thought aliens from another world would live in a town such as this." "Araki" would admit it was a bit of shock to hear aliens existed in this dimension, but he had seen far stranger things back in his old home.

So when he saw one of them in his house, for a moment he had thought about turning the boy's shirt into a bomb and watch the fireworks that followed. But he ultimately decided against that, as it would no doubt cause future headaches if he did.

No, he would not do anything unnecessary. He had finally gotten a fresh start, a home he did not know even existed, and he was going to hold onto it with a death grip. And if anyone tried to take it away from, he would show them a strength the likes of which no one had ever seen.

"No one will ever again be able to stop me from living my tranquil life." His eyes became cold, walking away from the window as he approached the stairs. "Neither alien nor teenager shall ever again force me to relive the humiliation I've endured countless times before."

A dark purple aura soon whirled around "Araki," and it only grew by the second as the blond-haired man finally reached the steps. "Yes, no one will stop me this time, for I have evolved once more. I have obtained strength that has no equal."

His frown turned into a small smile as he stared up into the air. "Yes, we've both evolved haven't we..."

A being materialized in front of "Araki." Cold and lifeless pink eyes stared at its master.

"Killer Queen." "Araki" finished as the frightening humanoid continued to float off the ground. "Yes, we have attained new levels of strength that we never thought was possible. Josuke might fight us, he might even be able to hurt us, but this time we will put him in the ground."

The well-dressed adult started to climb the stairs.

"Yes, this time, I will come out on top. If Josuke arrives here and tries to take away my life once again, then I shall kill him in a silent explosion."

He was halfway up the steps by now.

"If those Gems and that foolish boy and girl try to stop me, then I shall watch them burn until they are nothing but ash."

He had reached the top of the stairs now, and he took in every inch of his house, Killer Queen watching its master impassively.

"Yes, people will try to end me, but they will fail... because now, no one can ever stop a monster like me. No one can hope to defeat such an immensely strong and sadistic man such as I. No one knows how powerful I have become."

"Araki" spread his arms out wide, a large, incredibly threatening smile growing on his face.

"No one can hope to end Kira Yoshikage... For I have finally found peace."

And with that, he let out a chilling laugh, barely above a whisper but it echoed throughout the empty house. And Kira Yoshikage smiled; for at this moment, he was finally basking in the peace he had craved for so long.

_To Be Continued~_


	3. Bad News

 

He really shouldn't be surprised.

Josuke should have seen this coming a mile away. He should have been prepared for this inevitable outcome after everything Josuke had seen the murderer do. He shouldn't be shocked that Kira had been alive in this world for who knows how long, but unfortunately, he was. His eyes were still glued to the piece of Kira's hair piercing the thin brochure, the yellow aura around it slowly fading away. Even after the single strand of hair fell into the floor, Josuke could not look away from the tacky advertisement, standing perfectly still for several minutes.

_How the hell does he do it_ , Josuke thought, his mouth turning into a vicious snarl. His eyes were full of hatred that only grew as the seconds passed.  _How in the hell does this bastard constantly avoid death!_ Every single time it looked like the monster known as Kira Yoshikage was finally about to die, the murderer somehow had one more trick up his sleeve that allowed him to escape. And every single time Josuke had failed to stop him, his rage continued to rise at the killer. Why was it so hard to kill this one man? Josuke was honestly starting to believe that crap Kira had said about fate being on his side as the man's luck seemed to be endless.

_No_ _, It's not just luck_ , Josuke thought bitterly.  _This guy might just be the most dangerous Stand User back in my world, not only because of his powers but because the bastard can adapt to almost anything!_

Kira Yoshikage was like a damn chameleon. Changing accordingly to the situation so he would get out fine. Somehow, the man could get stronger after encountering a group of enemies only once. Somehow, even when he was injured and had a clear disadvantage in a fight, the bastard could think of ways to defeat his foes in a matter of seconds and act out these plans with ruthless and calm efficiency. No matter how outmatched Kira Yoshikage was, the serial killer refused to lose and somehow was able to always come out on top.

That damn monster always seemed to be one step ahead of Josuke.

"God damn it!" He shouted, pulling back his arm as he punched the wall in front of him as hard as he could. A scorching pain shot up his arm, but he didn't care, his mind elsewhere as he looked at the floor.

How many people had Kira killed while he was sitting on his ass doing nothing? How many people had died at the murderer's hands for no better reason then the bastard  _felt_  like it? How many people did Kira give one last cold, uncaring stare at as he watched them burn? How many innocents had been swallowed by a horribly painful explosion, and the only release from their suffering being when the last embers of their life faded away.

"Even in another world, this bastard is still just as dangerous as he was before," Josuke said, pulling his arm back from the wall as he looked towards the ceiling. If anything, Kira was now an even bigger threat than before.

_Stand Users can only be beaten by other Stand Users._

Those were the words Jotaro had told him over and over again, and they could not be truer. Ordinary people could not see Stands; they couldn't even hurt the manifestations of will no matter what methods they tried. But that didn't mean Stands could not harm normal people. Right now, Josuke and Kira might just be the only two Stand users in this entire dimension. And if that were true, that would mean right now, Josuke was the only threat to that monster. Right now that monster had only one person that could actually challenge him as everyone else in this world was most likely helpless against the powers of a Stand.

In Josuke's mind, there was no way any other person existed in this world that could stand up to Kira. Which meant that right now, Josuke Higashikata was the only person who could put an end to the psychotic bastard's life. All his fellow Stand Users were in a place far, far away, so that meant he was the last hope of ending that monster. With no backup and no other allies who could stop Kira, if Josuke failed to end Kira Yoshikage here and now, the murderer would continue to live his horrible life of killing anyone he wanted for as long as the bastard lived.

He couldn't fail like he had done so so many times before.

Immediately, Josuke remembered everyone he had let die. He had thought he had redeemed himself, but with Kira still alive, it meant that he had still not avenged any of his friends. His chest suddenly became heavy as guilt and anger whirled within it, lips turning into a scowl. That damn monster was still wreaking havoc, was still enjoying his "tranquil life," and Josuke could almost hear the voices of his dead friends blaming him for all the pain Kira was most likely inflicting on random innocents.

And they were right; it was his fault. He should have stopped Kira a long time ago, but he didn't.

"I'm sure as hell not failing this time," Josuke said, eyes filled with determination. The remorse flowing through his body kept rising with each moment, but Josuke did not have the time to brood. He had to stop Kira once and for all, so he ignored the regret chipping away at him as he slowly limped towards the stairs as he grabbed the brochure, reading through every piece of information the small pamphlet provided.

It mostly talked about how Beach City was located near a beach...which was rather damn obvious from its name, so Josuke immediately wondered what kind of an idiot made this crap. The only other things it talked about were tourist attractions and the mayor, but upon further skimming, Josuke found the location of this small town.

It was in a state called Delmarva, near the general area of Maryland. The brochure said there were directions on how to get to Beach City on the back, so Josuke flipped the pamphlet and saw there was a map that led from New Jersey all the way to the town marked in a bright yellow star. And surprisingly it was only two hundred miles away by car, which was far admittedly, but Josuke was just glad it wasn't located on the other side of the country. Josuke then stuffed the pamphlet into his left pants pocket.

"Okay," Josuke said, having reached the bottom of the stairs and now limping towards the exit. "This time Kira, you're not getting away. I'm gonna make sure your die once and for all. Even if I have to lose my own damn limbs or even my life, I will kill you." His voice was low and clipped, leaking with enough murderous intent to suffocate the air around him. As he continued to push past his aching muscles, he clenched his right hand into a fist.

Getting back home would have to wait. And he would get back home. Just after this.

Just after he avenged his friends who deserved to rest in peace. Right now, Josuke's fury knew no limits as his eyes coursed with an intense hatred directed towards one, cruel bastard. He exited the building, rain pouring from the sky as his clothes were instantly drenched in water, but Josuke did not care. And when he walked out onto the streets, a few random people noticed the anger burning in Josuke's expression and promptly stayed a hundred feet away from the pompadour teenager.

In his mind, he could see Kira Yoshikage. He could see Kira's smug grin; he could see that bastard's face full of arrogance as Killer Queen stood behind the murderer. Josuke could see the taunting glint in Kira's eyes, bragging to him that the bastard was still alive and that he had yet to stop the murderer.

His mind's image of Kira was essentially giving Josuke a challenge to see if he could stop this monster from hurting anyone else ever again.

"You better prepare yourself, Kira Yoshikage," Josuke said, growling like a beast as he limped down the streets. "Something tells me you know I'm coming, so you better pray to whatever God or Devil a monster like you worships." Despite the fact he was bandaged like a mummy, despite the fact that pain was spreading within Josuke's body and only growing by the second, the fire raging in his eyes just grew stronger.

"Because when I find you..." Josuke trailed off, and a dark purple aura surrounded him as the sound of thunder echoed throughout the rainy city. Crazy Diamond appeared, standing right next to Josuke, and his Stand's expression was one of pure rage.

"My Crazy Diamond's fist are gonna be drowning in blood." Josuke would make sure he avenged his friends and would find a way back home. He was Josuke Higashiakta, and he always found a way to overcome any obstacle in his way, no matter how dangerous or impossible.

So with no real plan, no way of knowing what was waiting for him in Beach City, Josuke limped across the busy streets. The only thought on his mind was of making Kira regret every murderer he had ever committed.

But there was a part of him, amidst all the anger that was rising within his soul, that was brimming with a nauseating fear that would overwhelm Josuke if he even dwelled on it for more than a second. For within Josuke's mind, he thought about what that bastard was doing to the innocent town right now.

* * *

_Too sweet._

Kira Yoshikage had a habit of waking up rather early. Both because he rarely needed any more than five hours of sleep to feel fully energized and because he liked getting a fresh start to a new day. Once his eyes were open, he did not feel the usual drowsy feeling most people would have when they woke up so he would quickly get out of his slightly dusty bed and head to the bathroom. By some miracle, all the piping and electricity still worked in this house, so his sinks and showers still had running water. After brushing his teeth, he always counted the minutes in his head so he knew if he had done a thorough enough job or not, he would splash hot water on his face to get rid of any dirt that might be there.

He would then iron his blue suit and pants, removing any wrinkles he could see for he always liked to look his best no matter what the situation was. After getting dress and properly fixing his black tie of skulls, he would go downstairs and prepare his breakfast. The kitchen was just as decayed and disgusting looking as the rest of the house, but Kira had cleaned up most of the dust and mold so the only real ugly parts were the sections with decaying wood. Upon opening the fridge, he had made a note to get more food as he turned on the stove.

When he finished cooking, he had sat down on the slightly wobbly table covered with a large white cloth, his plate of food in hand. He ate two sunny side eggs, a small bowl of rice, and a blueberry muffin. He did not have any chopsticks handy, so he used a fork instead to eat his meal. Recently he had decided to branch out and try new American cuisine since he figured it would be harder to acquire the ingredients he typically found at home. So currently he was trying a muffin he had bought at a local bakery the day before, still somewhat fresh, and proceeded to chew.

It was decent, but it was far sweeter than he had expected, and Kira did not have a large sweet tooth. But still, it was good enough for him as he finished his breakfast and wiped away the crumbs on his mouth with a napkin.

_I suppose I should wake her up now._ Kira thought, slowly standing up before walking away from the table. He moved towards the stairs and proceeded to walk up the steps. Once he reached the top, he headed towards a spare bedroom located in a dusty and slightly smelly room.

_I hope she had a good rest._ When he arrived at the door to the bedroom, he opened the door and stepped into the room as he looked down at the bed that held his lovely companion.

"I believe it's time to wake up now," Kira said, a smile growing on his face as he bent down to pick up the hand of his affection. "I already ate breakfast, but I didn't think I should wake you up just yet since you told me you weren't feeling well."

Kira slowly wrapped his fingers under his beautiful partner's wrist as he picked up her hand from his bed.

And just that.

For the only thing in the room lying on Kira's spare bed was a woman's severed hand. It was cut a few inches below the wrist, the beginning of a long white bone that used to belong to a living human was now visible through a large hole. Bits of charred flesh was located near the end of the hand, the smell wafting into Kira's nose but he had gotten used to it a long time ago. The blood inside the arm had long since dried, now looking like jam, and long streams of the dry and sticky red liquid went down the forearm to the hand's hot pink nails.

"Yes, I am aware this house needs some work, but right now I don't have the money or time to hire anyone to fix this place." He said, talking as if the dismembered hand had asked him a question. "Now then, why don't you come downstairs with me for a little meal?" He asked, the limb swaying back and forth in his grip as he walked out of the room and back downstairs.

He had no idea what the name of the woman whose arm this was had been before he killed her, but he didn't mind. The only thing that caught Kira's eyes about her was her wonderful hands. So when she was alone, he had Killer Queen blow her up, leaving only a single, slightly blood hand which he quickly stuffed into his pocket.

And then he had gone shopping for some tools to try and fix his windows. And after buying them, he calmly walked back home, the corpse's hand still in his left pocket but Kira knew no one would see it. He had spent years learning to blend in with his surroundings, even if he was walking only a few feet behind a random stranger, he or she would not even know Kira was there.

"You know, you're lucky I had stored you away in my room before those kids and that beast showed up yesterday." Kira was now moving along a long, dimly lit hallway as his fingers stroked the palm of the corpse's hand. "It would have gotten messy if they had seen you resting in my bed, but lucky for you, I took care of them." He suddenly laughed a little." No, not in that way. If I killed those three, it would have resulted in more fights later on. That boy was a part of those Crystal Gems, and I rather avoid any confrontation with them."

He stopped walking mid-step, his eyes turning cold as he glared at the lifeless hand.

"No, it's not because they're stronger than me." His voice was as frigid as a suffocating pressure soon filled the hall. Kira had let his hidden hatred out for a moment as he continued. "I have evolved to a point where even Josuke would fall at my knees. The only reason I have not blown up that cliff they live in and watch them die as they scream for mercy is because I want to live in peace. That means no more useless battles, no more having to come up with complex strategies to achieve victory, and most importantly no more killing anyone I do not want to."

Several moments passed, the room getting colder as the seconds ticked by. Then, Kira gave the arm a warm, apologetic smile.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to get so serious. I know you meant nothing by it and are just worried, but don't be. With my power, I can live my life as I please with no worries." He continued to walk until he had gone back downstairs and was once again at his dining table, placing the hand on the rectangular table. Pulling out a plate, Kira placed another sunny side egg on top of it before leaving the blue dish in front of the hand. He sat in a chair right across from the dismembered body part.

"Right now, let's just enjoy this moment together, shall we?" An unsettling smile crossed his lips. "Every moment I'm able to freely walk and live the life I wish to live is truly marvelous, and I want to share this experience with you." He reached across the table and stroked the grey hand once more. A moment of silence passed as Kira let out a laugh.

"What happens when Josuke gets here? Well, I think you mean  _if_ he gets here." Kira went to the fridge and pulled out a bottle of water. "You see, when I first arrived in this world, I had a feeling that Josuke and his Crazy Diamond would sooner or later get here as well. It only made sense, we both went through that tunnel, so I assumed Josuke would arrive in this world at some point, and when he did, he would try and kill me if he discovered I was still alive. And to prepare for such a scenario, I left some," he paused for a moment, eyes glancing at the ceiling as he looked for the right word. "Let's call them traps," he said as he took a sip from his water. "And I placed these traps in the only paths Josuke could take to get to this town."

Once he finished his water, he moved to his chair before sitting down, leaning back into the chair as he crossed his arms in front of his chest. "The traps I set for that stubborn teenager are only a sample of my new abilities, so I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't live through them." A deep frown crossed his face; a hint of anger entered Kira's expression as he thought back to his last fight with Josuke. Of how that shitty teen's Stand beat him just slightly behind the threshold of death.

Kira's frown got even deeper.

"But since he's Josuke Higashiakta, he might just pull off a miracle and make it here," Kira held out one hand in front of his face. And then smugness quickly returned to Kira's expression as he grinned, anger long gone. "But it's unlikely he will, and even if he did..." He trailed off as a dark purple aura whirled around his hand, and the menacing pink, leather-clad humanoid that was Killer Queen appeared right next to him, levitating a few feet off the ground. "He still has to deal with Killer Queen and I."

It was then he noticed a rather nasty smell. It was not the smell of burned flesh, which he was slowly growing to like with each new victim, but a more horrible, rotting odor. It was the smell of a body decaying from the inside out. Kira had dealt with this odor so many times before, but it didn't make the smell any less disgusting. His eyes narrowed at the corpse hand in front of him. He walked away from the table towards a cabinet and then pulled out a can of air freshener from a drawer

"I'm truly sorry to say this," Kira sprayed the hand, the smell becoming more tolerable, for now at least. "But I'm afraid I have to break up with you, my little tourist."

While he could not remember the woman's name, he did recall she was a tourist. He had seen her luggage bag and determine from its contents that she was from North Carolina, most likely to visit her family members. Kira himself had never taken a vacation anywhere outside of Morioh, both because he did not see the point in traveling and because he did not want to risk causing an incident in a place he was unfamiliar with. But since he arrived in Beach City, he could see why so many people found vacationing in different locations so appealing. It was quite fun exploring a new place and learning about the family-run stores, the best spots to view the sunset on the beach and even the places where he could get the best and cheapest cleaning supplies.

And he especially liked the fact that this town was full of idiots who did not even notice when ten of their citizens had gone missing. It was just like Morioh, the people here were blind to the fact that something was happening in their town and the chances of these fools realizing what was going on around them were slim to none. Kira loved it when he committed killings so flawlessly that it was as if no heinous act had been done at all. It spoke volumes about how far he had come since he first killed that little girl, Sugimoto Reimi, all those years ago in her house. He went from messy and attention-grabbing slaughters to razor sharp and stealthy killings that no one ever noticed.

Even the supposed "guardians" of this place had no idea as to what was going on in their town. He had seen some of those alien womens' abilities first hand, and it was obvious they were a well-coordinated team. But even so, they were still unaware of what was happening to the town they swore to protect. To him, it showed they were inattentive to the town's people and only focused on the obvious monsters in front of them. They would never expect someone like him, a seemingly normal person, to cause such destruction.

"Well, it makes my life all the more tranquil, so I am thankful for that fact." Kira touched the lifeless hand's nail with a finger that suddenly turned pale pink; Killer Queen slowly brought it's thumb up before bringing it down to his hand. The hand was then swallowed by a small fireball, the explosion only damaging the hand and not the table it was resting on. The hand was nothing more than dust now, absolutely no remains of it left as a small cloud of smoke rose into the air. Kira's small chuckles were the only thing that broke the silence as he stared at the spot where the hand had been.

"And I am thankful for all the joy you brought me, my companion, and I hope you have a wonderful life." Kira walked away from the kitchen and headed for the entrance to his house. " I am now a single man once again, so I think it is only appropriate that I try to find another lovely lady."

Yes, another woman who would hopefully have even better hands than the last one. Another person who Kira would turn to ash except for a single hand, and would then desecrate their memory by using the only part of them still of this world as a way to live out his desires.

_It really is a beautiful day,_  Kira thought as he exited his house. He was smiling, taking in the warm sun above him as he continued down the dirt path to the woods.

Beach City was the perfect town for Kira Yoshikage. The perfect place where he could let out his urges without the threat of anyone ever stopping him.

Beach City was  _his_ town.

* * *

"So...is the point of the device to consume as many coins from you two as possible?"

"No, it's supposed to give you a prize if you can wrap the claw around one of the toys," Steven answered, chuckling as he heard Amethyst let out a small growl of annoyance.

Steven was currently in Funland Arcade, and as the name implied, an arcade located on the boardwalk of Beach City. Inside the arcade, games of all kinds were scattered on the somewhat stained purple floor, and Steven loved almost every one of them. He had been playing a variety of games with both Amethyst and another Gem who was currently staring at the machine in front of her with a curious look in her eyes.

"So, why is Amethyst failing to do so?" A lime green skin woman asked. She had an inverted triangle gemstone on her forehead and wore a sleeveless, green V-neck uniform. Her outfit was mostly light green, with the exception of the cut-off of her neck area as well as the area between her chest and leggings being dark green. Said leggings featured yellow diamond kneepads and were also green, the tips of the stockings a light yellow. Her hair was also triangle shaped, seeming to defy gravity as it pointed upwards in the air. She was around the same height as Steven, but someone might think she was taller because her hair was so big.

A yellow visor covered her eyes, giving her pupils a greenish tint which made her actual eye color hard to determine. Her name was Peridot, a new addition to the Crystal Gems who had at one point been their enemy. But thanks to Steven's optimism and empathy, he was able to turn the former cold and calculating Gem into someone warm, funny, and a little silly.

"It's a really hard game; barely anyone can actually win," Steven answered Peridot with a small grin.

Both Steve and Amethyst had taken Peridot to the boardwalk to show her what Beach City's arcade was all about. So far, they had joyfully shouted when Amethyst had gotten a new high score in  _Guitar Hero_ , the Gem declaring herself a rock legend as she gave a mock bow to her "audience." Had laughed to the point of tears as Peridot clumsily tried her best to beat  _Dance Dance Revolution,_ the green gem had fallen off the platform so many times she claimed it was a disguised death trap to lure in unsuspecting citizens. And had all cheered when Steven had beaten his own time in  _Road Destruction Warrior 2._

Even when Peridot had lost spectacularly in some of the games, getting angry and complaining a little bit, Steven could still see the amusement rising in her expression. He was glad Peridot was enjoying herself, and he was having a blast himself. It felt like it had been a while since Steven had actually just relaxed and played some games. He had been fretting about Garnet's prediction, but so far, the Gem's had been handling every threat that has come their way since then. So maybe all the anxiety he had been feeling was for nothing.

But in the back corners of his mind, a part of him told him he shouldn't let his guard down, and a bit of dread filled Steven's stomach as images of Bismuth and Jasper flashed through his mind.

But he ignored those feelings, reasoning with himself he was just being paranoid.

Nothing bad would happen that the Gem's couldn't handle.

"Darn it!" Amethyst sudden shout caused Steven to snap back to reality as he looked at the purple Gem. Currently, the three were playing Skill Crane, but were horribly losing at the deceptively simple looking game. Both Steven and Amethyst had taken turns on trying to get one of the stuffed animals behind the glass casing, but it seemed impossible. Steven and Amethyst had lost count of how many coins they had wasted on this machine, but neither of the two Gems could successfully capture any of the plushies.

It had gotten to the point where Amethyst was sure the game was rigged. But Mr. Smiley, a tall bald man with a mustache, gray shirt with purple circles and bright yellow triangles and mid-thigh length shorts, had assured them that the game wasn't rigged.

Though Steven was sure Mr. Smiley had quickly muttered "anymore" under his breath before he walked off.

"Oh come on!" Amethyst slammed her head against the glass; the reason being that she had successfully grabbed a small elephant plush doll around its cotton stuffed stomach, but when the claw rose up the elephant came loose and fell back into the pit with all the other stuffed toys.

"Amethyst, be careful," Steven said, worry building in his chest as he looked at the Gem. "You remember what happened last time you banged your head there?"

"What happened last time?" Peridot asked.

"Oh, nothing really," Amethyst said with a nonchalant shrug. "I just accidentally broke the glass and it went everywhere...and then that accidentally started a  _small_ fire...and then I accidentally made it worse by spreading it." Amethyst rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly. "It wasn't my best day."

"That much is rather obvious," Peridot said, giving Amethyst a small grin before continuing. "I can't believe you two are being constantly outwitted by this almost primitive technology, and here I thought you two were the experts when it came to these 'arcade games.'"Though her tone was somewhat arrogant, Steven knew Peridot was just trying to be funny. She was still learning about what was considered harmless teasing and what was cruel mockery, but thankfully, she was getting better when it came to social situations.

Unfortunately, there were still moments when the green Gem became haughty and would offend others even though she thought she had done nothing wrong.

"Oh, So I guess you think you can do better?" Amethyst asked with a challenging smirk.

Peridot responded with her own smirk. "Of course I can," she said, adjusting her visor as she did so.

"Okay then," Amethyst chucked two small gold coins at Peridot, who almost dropped them but was able to clumsily catch the small metallic coins. "Take your best shot, Peri," Amethyst moved away from the machine, pointing with her arm to Peridot and then to the machine.

For a second, Peridot looked nervous, but pride soon swelled in her eyes as she marched towards the Skill Crane.

"Allow me to show you how it is done." Peridot inserted the two coins as the bright red clock on the machine counted down from sixty. "I've seen you two play this game so much I know what not to do." Peridot moved the black joystick, the crane moving according to the directions Peridot moved the controller. She maneuvered the claw so it was right above a small plush star, and pressed the red button on top of the joystick. The claw fell through the air, the metallic fingers wrapping around the star's head.

"See, I told you I could do it," just as she said that, the claw slowly rose with the star in its grasp, only to suddenly jerk to the side as the star fell back down.

"What!" Peridot shouted as the claw went back to its starting position. "But that's impossible, I had it right, we all saw it right?" She turned around to see Amethyst with a smug expression and Steven who couldn't help but let out a little sheepish grin.

"We told you," Amethyst and Steven said together as Peridot's eyes grew with anger.

"This stupid machine is clearly incapable of grabbing anything," Peridot said before she growled. "It must be rigged."

"Hey, don't give up now," Steven said encouragingly. "You still have one more try."

Peridot still looked mad, letting out soft growls underneath her breath; but then, her eyes suddenly widened and an almost sinister smile spread across her face. She once again moved the joystick until the claw was over a giant stuffed panda bear. Peridot pressed the red button on the controller and the claw once again descended, grabbing the bear by its stomach. The claw once again rose up, but as it did so the giant bear was slowly slipping from its grasp, and in a few seconds it was barely clinging to its fur. Steven and Amethyst were sure it was going to be another failure.

That is, until the claw suddenly  _moved_  on its own, readjusting its grip so it was now tightly grabbing the bear's stomach once again. Steven and Amethyst eyes widened in shock as the claw went over to an opening in the corner and dropped the bear into the hole.

"HA!" Peridot quickly thrust her hand through a black tarp near the bottom of the machine and pulled out the bear, which was almost as tall as her. She wrapped her arms around it as she squealed in delight. She turned towards the two confused Gems behind her as she smiled, wiggling her pinkie and ring finger. The claw behind her suddenly swayed from its starting position as the cable extended downward before quickly retracting.

It did not take long before Steven and Amethyst realized what Peridot had done.

"Metal powers for the win," she said, holding out the panda so it was directly in front of her two friends.

"Oh, that was awesome Peridot!" Steven shouted, pumping his fist into the air as he smiled.

"Heck yeah, it is!" Amethyst also shouted, but suddenly her eyes widened as she slapped a hand against her temple. "GAH! Why didn't we think of using your powers from the beginning?"

"Oh right, we could have done that," Steven said before searching through his pockets. "And we probably still have some coins left if we did."

"Well, look on the bright side," Peridot said as she stared at the soft panda in her arms, eyes filled with joy. "At least we got this adorable piece of textile mixed with cotton, straw, and cheap plastic." Peridot gave the stuffed animal a big hug as Amethyst let out a small laugh.

"Well, I guess your right," the short and long-haired Gem then looked at the sky visible through the large, arch-shaped entrance to the arcade. "Besides, we wouldn't have time anyway, it's getting late and Pearl wanted us to get home early." In her last words, irritation rose in her voice as Amethyst rolled her eyes. Steven guessed Amethyst would have wanted to stay longer, but unfortunately, Pearl's orders had ruined those plans.

It was then Steven saw that the sun was setting, and he realized he was a little tired. They had spent nearly all day playing on the boardwalk while Pearl and Garnet checked the warp pads, just on the off chance they had something to do with Garnet's vision. Lapis was relaxing in the barn; she wanted to finish the  _Camp Pining Hearts_  season she was on so she could catch up with Peridot. Which meant the three Gems who had no real plans for the day had done basically whatever they wanted. And today had helped ease the troubles Steven had felt.

"Yeah, but today was still a lot of fun, right?" Steven asked the other two Gems.

"I will admit, this day was quite eventful and had it share of positive moments, so overall I am satisfied," Peridot replied, and Amethyst glanced at the triangle shaped hair Gem with a grin.

"You are such a nerd, Peri." She said, before walking towards the exit, Peridot, still holding the large panda, and Steven following behind her. But as they exited Funland and onto the wide boardwalk, Steven heard someone shouting at him.

"Steven!"

Turning around, Steven saw an adult man running towards him. His head was slightly bald, most of his dark brown hair located at the top of his scalp pointed up by some kind of gel. He wore a violet-gray coat with a white collared shirt underneath, grey-brown pants, chocolate colored shoes, and a dark violet tie. This was the elected leader of Beach City, Mayor Dewey, and he was currently weaving through crowds of people towards the three Gems.

"Um, Amethyst," Peridot began as Amethyst turned to look at the green gem. "There is a visually disturbing and sweaty creature heading towards us, should we not get rid of it?"

Amethyst laughed before responding. "Nah, don't worry about that guy Peri, he's just another human, not some monster. Heck, that dude is somehow the mayor of this place.

Peridot looked confused, probably trying to figure out what a 'mayor' was. "...Are all 'mayors' this ugly."

"The ones I've met so far have been."

Before Steven could chastise them for making fun of Mayor Dewey, the political figure was already in front of them. Sweat was glistening down his forehead as he took in deep breaths.

"Steven..." He trailed off, taking in several gasps as he clutched his heart. Eventually, he was able to catch his breath before giving Steven a very shaky smile. "How are you?" He asked.

"Um...fine," He said, wondering why mayor Dewey kept glancing in seemingly every direction.

"That's good," He said, as he let out a nervous laugh. "It's nice to see you and," He paused as he looked towards Amethyst, eyes narrowing in concentration before continuing. "Amethyst, and," once again he paused, this time looking at Peridot. "I'm sorry, who are you?"

"Peridot." Was the short Gem's quick and curt reply as she narrowed her eyes at Dewey

"Are you Steven's cousin or something?" He asked.

"Well, she's not really family but-." before he could finish, Amethyst suddenly grabbed his arm and walked away from Mayor Dewey.

"I'm really sorry Mr. Dewey, but we seriously got to get back home. So I don't think we can talk right now," Amethyst words were dripping with sarcasm, and one look at her face and Steven could tell she really didn't want to talk to the mayor. Peridot quickly followed, placing her bear under her armpit, but mayor Dewey actually jumped over the three short Gems and landed in front of them, spreading his arms out wide so none of the three Crystal Gems could advance.

"Wait, please!" He shouted, and Amethyst, Steven, and Peridot winced at the sheer volume of his voice. Steven saw that mayor Dewey eyes were wide, practically bulging out of his sockets. Amethyst partially glared at the man, and Peridot looked confused but before anyone of them could respond Dewey spoke again.

"Please! I... I need your help." Steven had never heard the mayor's voice sound so desperate, nor had he ever seen the mayor look so...terrified. He knew Dewey was a bit of a coward, but the fear that was radiating from the mayor being was something different.

Something was wrong.

Amethyst also saw the distress on Dewey's face, and she could also sense something was wrong. Peridot also noticed something was odd. Even with the little interactions she had with other people, the socially awkward green Gem knew this was not normal behavior for any human.

"Hey man," Amethyst said, though this time there was a hint of worry in her voice. "Are you okay? You seem more stressed than usual."

"No, I'm not okay," Dewey began, eyes once again shifting to the people around him. "I haven't been okay since..." He didn't finish, his body starting to shake as he scratched his neck with one hand. "I shouldn't even be talking to anyone about this outside the investigation, but if anyone can help it's you guys."

"Investigation?" Steven asked, raising a brow. "What investigation?"

"The investigation regarding the," He whirled his head in every direction before crouching down so he was at eye-level with the three people in front of him. "Incidents," his voice was a whisper as Steven felt confusion rise within him.

"Incidents?" Peridot asked.

"Yes, you know, the incidents that have been occurring in Beach City," Dewey responded.

"Um, what are you talking about?" Amethyst asked, and somehow the horror on Dewey's face grew larger, eyes widening even further.

"You... You mean you don't know?" Dewey to a shaky step back. "B-But you always know what's happening to Beach City. You're the guardians, and you don't know what's going on?" Dewey's voice broke, covering his face with his hands as his body trembled more violently now. "Oh Lord, they don't know."

"M-Mayor Dewey what's going on?" Steven stuttered slightly, dread beginning to pool in his stomach as he wondered what was causing Bill Dewey such panic. Around him, Both Peridot and Amethyst were now intensely focused on the man in front of them. "Please, tell us what's wrong."

Though his body was still trembling, Mayor Dewey removed his hands from his face, looking around at the people walking past them before he pointed a shaky finger at the railing of the boardwalk that was deserted of any people and far away from the main part of the boardwalk. He then immediately ran towards the wooden barrier, Steven, Amethyst and Peridot quickly following. Once all three arrived at the railing, Mayor Dewey looked over the edge towards the sand below and looked liked he was about to throw up.

"Over the last month people..." He trailed off, hyperventilating as he struggled to continue. " Have gone missing from Beach City."

"Missing!" Steven shouted, shocked, and Mayor Dewey immediately shushed Steven. He turned his head in every direction again, making sure no one heard Steven before continuing.

"Yes, missing," Dewey said in a hushed whisper.

"What do you mean by missing," Peridot asked, genuinely confused as to what the mayor of Beach City was saying. Steven  _really_  needed to teach her some of the more dire words in the English language. "Did they just cease to exist?"

"No, what I mean is that no one has seen them for weeks!" Dewey explained hastily, sweat dripping down his forehead like a waterfall. "Several families have reported their own children or other relatives have just vanished into thin air. Most of the families of the people who went missing lived here in Beach City, but there were was one elderly lady who claimed her daughter was supposed to visit her while on vacation, but she never did."

"Oh gosh that's awful," Steven said, his heart swelling with a mixture of worry and a cold fright. How could he have not known about this? How could the Gem's not know that people were going missing in their own town?

"Yeah, that really sucks," Amethyst added, her face swirling with sadness as she glanced at the floor. After a moment, she looked back at Dewey. "How many people have gone missing?"

"At least five people," Dewey responded, and it was clear from his tone that he was taking this whole ordeal quite hard. "And we're still not sure if there are any more people missing."

"Five whole people!" Steven shouted, and was once again hushed by Dewey, and this time the mayor placed a finger roughly against Steven's lips. "Sorry," the teen muttered.

"I take it that so many people 'missing' is a very bad thing?" Peridot asked.

"Yes, it is," Dewey let out a long heavy sigh as he stared at the sand below with a horribly depressed look in his eyes. "The only thing we know is that all the missing people are all woman. We've been investigating this case for a week, but I thought if I asked you guys you would have all the answers."

"Why would you think that?" Peridot said, crossing her arms as she frowned.

"Because you guys always know what's going on when something weird is happening!" Mayor Dewey almost shouted. "I figured this was something magical related because let's face it whenever their's trouble here it's  _always_ something magical! Not to mention there hasn't been a single monster attack or giant flaming hand falling from the sky in weeks!" He looked around at the boardwalk, then the people, and then back towards all three Gems. "I mean, when was the last time Beach City was so...peaceful?"

None of the three short Gems could answer that question. True there had been several attack and alien threats, but all those dangers were directed at the Crystal Gems and not the town. Beach City looked to them like it was the same as it always had been.

But it was clear their town was far from fine.

"So I assumed that the universe sent us another magical catastrophe after all this peace, but you're telling me that's not the case? Are you absolutely sure?" He asked, once again looking at the three with desperate eyes.

"We've been checking for anything out of the ordinary a lot lately, but we haven't noticed anything," Amethyst answered, and through her one visible eye, Steven could see she felt ashamed for the answer she gave. Amethyst probably thought it sounded weak or maybe stupid since she assumed she should have realized something was happening to her own town sooner. He knew Amethyst was having some confidence issues, even after beating Jasper Steven could still tell Amethyst would still sometimes feel...small. So hearing that people were going missing while she thought she had been doing a good job protecting her town probably made her pride shrink.

And Steven could relate as an intense amount of guilt practically ripped his heart out of his chest. How could he not know about something like this? He visited almost every part of Beach City on a near-daily basis but never realized something this serious was happening in his town. Now, because of his carelessness, people were missing, and they might be hurt or worse.

"Oh no," Dewey gasped. "Now what am I going to do? If you guys don't know, then that means we have absolutely no leads at all to find the missing citizens. My career is over, and there's a very good chance if we don't find them soon they'll end up-."

"Hey!" Amethyst interrupted with a shout, walking up to the mayor. "Don't talk like that, because in case you've forgotten, we're the Crystal Gems." Her voice was stern and passionate. "Whenever there's trouble, we'll be there to help, and that ain't changing anytime soon. We might not have known before, but now that we do know what's going on here, we're gonna try and figure this out. We fight literal monsters on a daily basis, So we'll find these guys no problem." She gave the mayor a big smirk oozing with confidence. Steven was glad that the purple Gem was quick to recover. Before Amethyst might have gotten a bit depressed at anything reminding her of her own flaws, but now she had learned to accept that even with her defects, she was still a strong and reliable person anyone could count on. "So rest easy knowing the Gem Squad is on the case, and we won't even charge you for our time."

"Y-You really think," Dewey stuttered, still looking like he would vomit at any moment. "You really think you can find them?" He finished, wiping the sweat dripping down his face with a handkerchief.

"When was the last time you saw us ever do something and fail?" Amethyst asked, "oh that's right, never. So continue handling things your way, and let us handle things our way."

The panic on Dewey's face decreased, though it was obvious he was still worried. "If you're sure-"

"Heck yeah, we're sure!" Amethyst interrupted, smacking her gem with her hand in a display of pride.

"Then, if you find anything, please immediately call me," Dewey said, his eyes full of worry as they shifted to the people around him. "And remember not to let anyone know about this, we can't risk a panic now. Now if you'll excuse me, I have important matters regarding the investigation to attend to." Mayor Dewey quickly ran off, accidentally tripping over his own feet as he did so. He got up as fast as he could, pretending that did not happen as he continued to run and eventually vanished from Steven's sight as the crowd of people grew larger.

"Come on guys," Amethyst said, her face shifting to a serious expression as she pointed in the general direction of the Crystal Temple. "We got to go tell everyone what's going on."

"Amethyst, Peridot," Steven began as both Gems turned to him. "Do you think this is what Garnet's vision was about?"

Amethyst looked unsure, and so did Peridot, the purple Gem hesitant to respond. "Well, Garnet said something big was coming, and missing people is a big deal, but not like 'all I see is death in my future vision' kind of deal."

"But, I mean, something might have taken these people right?"

"Yeah," Amethyst replied slowly.

"And this thing could be the same thing that Garnet saw in her vision right?" Before Amethyst had a chance to reply, Steven continued. "What if something bad happened to these people? What if something bad is happening to them  _right now_  and we can't do anything about it?" Steven then looked to the floor, his eyes wide with a mix of horror and regret as he inhaled a shaky breath. "What if... What if they're already dea-"

"Hey, stop getting all depressed on me!" Amethyst interrupted Steven with a shout, lifting the boy's chin up so he was looking directly at Amethyst. Her eyes were glaring at Steven, upset. "You're Steven Universe, getting sad should not be on your list of things to do. I know this looks bad, but you know we always pull through in the end. So there's no reason to even  _think_ like that." Care filled her expression as she gave a small but warm smile. "I don't know how many times we've said this before, but we're the Crystal Gems, and we always save the day."

Steven would not say it out loud, but there was a part of him that doubted those words. Neither he nor the Gems knew such a serious situation was going on in Beach City, and yet they were supposed to find the source of why so many people went missing under their watch? They had failed to even stop whatever was causing this event in the beginning, and fear soon pooled in the bottom of Steven's stomach as he wondered if they could stop whatever was causing this.

But then he remembered who he was, and who the Gem's were. The race of aliens who had always beaten the bad guy no matter what the odds were. The heroes of earth, himself included, who would always help anyone in need, and yet here he was doubting if they could stop this new threat.

It was ridiculous... So why was it he couldn't stop feeling like his heart was getting pierced by fear?

"Yeah, your right Amethyst," Steven said, giving Amethyst his best smile, but his voice was a lot quieter than he liked it to be. Amethyst did not seem to notice as she gave him a small smile.

"Of course she is right," Peridot added as the two Gems looked towards the pointy hair shaped soldier. "You are all incredibly stubborn in protecting this town, and whatever is trying to hurt it will surely rue the day it messed with the Crystal Gems."

Steven and Amethyst were a bit shocked at Peridot' kind words.

"Ahhh, Peri," Amethyst quickly brought Peridot in for a big hug, which surprised the other Gem as she suddenly found herself lifted off the ground. "I didn't know you thought we were that awesome."

"I was simply stating the facts," Peridot said, a small blue blush growing on her face as she adjusted her visor. "It would be illogical not to admit you guys are...pretty cool."

Amethyst let out a big laugh as she put Peridot down, before looking towards the cliff at the edge of town. "Seriously, though," Her voice became firm as her eyes narrowed. "We got to go tell the others now." Amethyst ran towards the direction of the Crystal Temple, Peridot quickly following after her.

And Steven was right behind the two Gems, though his mind was elsewhere. Normally his faith in the Gems was unshakable, always believing them whenever they told him everything would be fine. But lately, their words never seemed to hold that same impact they used to. He found himself questioning the Gems decisions more often, and especially now after hearing such awful news. He always thought the Gems knew everything that was happening in Beach City, and clearly, that was wrong. He always thought after all the time they spent in the small town, after their history-

Steven paused mid-thought, now finding himself reviewing all of the details of the Gems past he had learned, and he realized that he really didn't know any of the Gem's history that well, save for a few details here and there. It was the same thing with his mother, the Gems barely telling him anything about his mom's actions from the past. The more he learned about her, the more he saw all her flaws and all her secrets. And he was starting to learn that the other Gems also had a lot of secrets, and even after all his improvement they told him he had made, they still wouldn't tell him anything. Not even his own father told him much about the Gem's past, and he had married their leader.

It was like they were...ordered not to tell him anything. Like his mother, for some reason, thought it would be best for her own son to know as little as possible about his own heritage or any of the Gems past. Steven knew next to nothing about the Gem's home planet, and if Rose Quartz did tell the other Gems not to tell him and they willingly acted out on this order, to Steven it was like...

It was like they didn't trust him. They didn't trust him to know about his own mother.

In the next moment, he couldn't believe he thought that. Of course, they trusted him. After all, they had been through, they not only trusted him but they loved him. They were a family, and no matter what secrets they kept from him, he would still love them. And no matter what he learned about his mother, he knew who she was. A kind and caring person who had given up her life so Steven could exist.

No matter what, every action Rose Quartz took she did because she loved each and every one of the Crystal Gems.

_That's what I thought too._

He heard a voice.  _Bismuth's_  voice.

He stopped running, his skin paling as he whipped his head around and expected the rainbow-haired Gem to be standing behind him.

But no one was.

And Steven's felt his blood turn to pure ice. And then he heard Bismuth again.

_If I were you, I start wondering what exactly it is they aren't telling you about Rose._

_It's getting worse,_ he thought, trying not to listen to his mind's version of Bismuth. He had been hearing her more and more, but this was the first time the disembodied voice of the blue Gem had said something new. Something she hadn't already said when he had first met her and when she had tried to shatter him.

And even though he knew she wasn't real, even though he knew it was just the result of his psyche playing tricks on him...Bismuth's words were enough to make all the doubt resurface within Steven, spreading throughout his body with a vengeance.

"Hey, Steven hurry up!" Amethyst's voice snapped Steven out of the nightmarish thoughts racing through his head. He turned his head to see Amethyst and Peridot a short distance away on the boardwalk, having stopped running and now looking at Steven. "We can't waste any more time come one!"

"Sorry!" Steven said, and once again started to run. The doubt and fear were still growing, but he chose to ignore his feelings.

There was no way any of the Crystal Gems would lie to him about his mother. There was no chance that the Gems kept his mother's past a secret because she wasn't the woman they all said she was. There had to be reasons why they kept secrets from him.

They were his family and he trusted them completely.

But despite his thoughts, he could still hear Bismuth let out a haunting laugh that echoed throughout his subconscious.

He knew wasn't getting any sleep tonight.

* * *

Josuke was used to riding on buses, but he was never would have thought the people on board could be so...quiet.

He had calmed down enough after exiting the building to realize he needed to find some mode of transportation to get to Beach City. So after asking around for a bit, the day quickly becoming night as the rain eventually stopped, he found out there was a bus that headed in the general direction of Beach City. And with stolen money that Crazy Diamond had lifted from unsuspecting strangers, who could not see or hear his Stand, he had gotten on a dark blue bus and paid an old man in a typical American bus driver uniform as he sat down on a dirty brown seat. He had to be careful not to sit on a lone piece of gum, and once he had sat down he had noticed how quiet everyone was being.

Back home, no one ever actually talked on the buses, after all, why would a bunch of strangers start talking with one another for no reason? But this silence was different. This silence was a hollow, echoing quiet that could be disturbed with just the slightest breeze. Everyone around him in the surrounding seats was either looking into the strange rectangular devices or looking out the window towards the dark skies above them.

It made him a little uneasy, but he tried to focus on the task at hand.

He took out a more advanced map of New Jersey as well as a copy of every schedule for every bus that ran through the city. Once the bus reached its last stop, near the borders of New Jersey, He would have to get off it and get on a bus that would take him to Philadelphia. And then from there, he would have to travel to Baltimore and finally get on one last bus that would take him to Beach City. It would take a few days, though, as by the time he arrived in the cities he would have to wait for the specific buses to take him to his destination.

And in that time, Kira would probably kill more people as Josuke was forced to wait for a God damn bus.

He had thought about stealing someone's car or even motorcycle, but ultimately the logical side of his brain was able to overcome the fiery anger within him. He did not know anything about this country, least of all the roads, and even if he got a map of the country he doubted he could learn every road and every exit within a short period of time. Add in the fact that Josuke was still injured, his left leg still unable to support his weight as the rest of his body shouted at Josuke to stop, he had to conserve as much energy as possible before he confronted Kira.

No, he had to take the buses and rest so when he arrived in Beach City, he could properly kick Kira and Killer Queen's asses.

_Still, that monster is most likely blowing up people at this very moment._ The thought angered him, but he knew right now he could do nothing now. He was letting innocent people die once again because of his mistakes.

_Brooding isn't going to do you any good now Josuke_ _,_ he thought. Right now the only thing he could do was wait impatiently for the bus to get to his stop which should be about another twenty minutes.

Looking around him, he realized that most of the other passengers had gotten off by this point, now only three other people including the bus driver were still here. Turning his head towards the window, he saw that the streets they were passing now were more deserted, having not seen a single person wandering through the roads as they went deeper into the city. The bus turned into a narrow street as Josuke let his mind wander.

_Must be getting closer to the last stop,_  he thought as he wished he had a watch or something to let him know what time it was. Then again, it wasn't like knowing the time would-

Suddenly the bus came to a screeching stop. Josuke had not buckled himself into the seat, so his head smashed against the seat in front of him as he screamed in pain.

"Son of a-!" He didn't finish, both because he did not want to draw unnecessary attention to himself and because he was busy dealing with a head-splitting pain running through his body.

_What the hell was that?_  He thought, looking around and seeing the other passengers also looked surprised at the sudden stop. Looking towards the front of the bus, he saw the driver was also confused. Squinting his eyes, Josuke saw that the driver was not hitting the break at all, yet for some reason, the bus would not move. The driver pushed down on the accelerator, and though Josuke could hear the tires thrashing against the tight road, the bus would not move.

It was like the vehicle had crashed into something heavy and anchored deeply in the black street.

And that was when Josuke saw something moving in the corner of his eye.

Turning his head towards the window behind him, he saw  _something_ moving outside. For just a moment, he saw something that looked like black mist blowing in the wind just outside the bus. The mist soon traveled forward, circling the bus and eventually out of Josuke's sight. No one else seemed to notice the mist but him.

_Oh Shit,_  he thought, as the familiar feeling of anxiety rose in his stomach. After months of battling Stand's, after training with Jotaro and all his other friends, he had learned one thing, one valuable life lesson that had saved his life countless of times before.

If he ever sees or encounters something remotely strange, there was a good chance someone was trying to kill him.

He heard the doors open and whipped his head to see the bus driver walking down the steps to exit the bus. Josuke immediately knew this was a bad idea and would have shouted at the man to stop.

Where it not for the fact the man's body exploded in a brilliant ball of fire the moment his foot took a single step outside, the force sending what was left of his body flying back to his seat. There was no noise from the detonation of flames, but the power of the explosion was enough to send shockwaves rumbling through the bus as Josuke found his body crashing against the window as he shouted in pain.

"Shit!" He screamed as he fell onto the dirty bus floor. His body was once again convulsing with a searing pain, blood pooling in his lips as he slowly got up. Smoke started to fill the bus as Josuke saw the bus driver's blood now painted along the walls of the vehicle. His skin, or what was left of it, was now burned to a crisp, the horrible smell of burning flesh inescapable. His leg was now nothing more than ash, and his arm was horribly mangled, only a part of his body due to the thin strands of muscle still holding it together as his eyes were now staring at the ceiling, never again to be closed.

And as the other two passengers screamed and looked on with wide, fearful eyes, Josuke turned his head to the right. This was where he had last seen the black ashes of mist, and his instincts told him something was there.

And he was right.

Something was there.

He could not see what exactly, the shadows of the night covered whatever being was standing a distance away from the bus. But what he could tell was that the being had something forming in the center of his palm.

And then it threw the creation circling in his hand towards the bus, and Josuke saw the black object traveling through the air at dangerous speeds.

With no time to help the other passengers, Josuke called upon his Stand, the light purple aura growing around his body as Crazy Diamond quickly appeared right next to Josuke. Without even looking at Josuke, Crazy Diamond acted.

_**"DORA!"**_ His Stand dug its gauntlet covered hands through the floor like it was made of butter and ripped out a large chunk of metal about a head taller than Josuke. Crazy Diamond quickly raised the scrap of metal in front of it and Josuke, using it as an improv shield just as the black mass collided with the bus.

And the bus erupted into an enormous fireball. Josuke found his body careening through a window, glass digging into his skin as the explosion sent him tumbling painfully onto the ground. His body skidded on the streets until he collided against the base of one of the buildings, coughing a thick glob of blood when he crashed.

_God damn it that hurts!_  He thought. His wounds had reopened now, a bit of blood spilling into his outfit as a searing pain shot through his nerves. His muscles roared as a the pain made it hard to breathe.

But Josuke could not lay on the cold pavement. Because he knew if he did, then he was going to die.

He got up as fast as he could, putting most of his weight on his right leg as he leaned on the building behind him for support. The bus in front of him was covered in flames, the passengers that were with him were most likely dead if the lack of screams were any indication. As he watched the fire grow bigger, an intense fury that helped block out his pain spread throughout his body.

He had failed to save more lives, once again unable to protect the people who were right in front of him.

And he knew who was responsible for this.

Another explosion erupted against the bus, just like before it was deadly quiet as the vehicle was broken into several large heaps of metal. Smoke spread throughout the road as Josuke could see a figure walking through the black fumes.

And even with smoke making only its outline visible, Josuke knew what it was.

The figure strolled through the fire and smoke on the streets, its triangle shaped ears atop a flat head made Josuke's anger triple. As it walked out of the smoke, the first thing Josuke saw was the familiar leather gloves with the skull emblem, and the energy around him began to ripple as he clenched his fists. Crazy Diamond's face was etched with rage as it scowled.

The figure was now out of the smoke and standing in front of the flames, and Josuke glared at the cat-like being in front of him. And that thing looked at Josuke with the same emotionless gaze it always held.

But it looked...different now. Instead of its usual pale pink colors, its skin was now pitch black, only a shade lighter than its gloves and belt. Josuke wondered why it looked so different now, but in the next moment, he could no longer think.

Becuase he heard  _his_ voice.

_**"Hello..."**_ The voice sounded a pitch lower, and a bit warped like there was more than one person talking. But to Josuke, he could only hear the voice of the man who wreaked havoc on Morioh.

_**"Josuke... Higashikata."** _

Pissed did not even begin to describe the wrath burning in his soul.

"KIRAAAAAAAAAA!" The purple energy around Josuke extended towards the sky as both Stand and master's faces blazed with fury.

Killer Queen only looked on with two, cold pink eyes.

_To Be Continued~_


	4. Side Story: The Laments of a Punk

_What the hell's up with all this rain?_

It seemed to rain every day now; people walked around the streets of Morioh under umbrellas and thick raincoats. The sky hadn't let up even for a moment, water falling down so hard the streets were partially flooded.

Yet despite the massive downpour, Okuyasu Nijimura was out without an umbrella or any kind of jacket to protect him from the rain. Instead, he sat alone on a bench a few blocks away from his house. He looked down at the wet ground below him, for how long he did not know, as his clothes were getting wetter by the second.

But he didn't care about that.

_"Twenty feet..."_  He thought, still slouching as he brought his right hand up to his face.  _"No... maybe ten feet away..."_

Okuyasu was never a man to dwell on thoughts. Partially because he never liked thinking too much about any one thing, and also because he liked to focus on what was in front of him. But there were times when his mind would be haunted by one thought, unable to shake it no matter what he tried. When his brother died, for months whenever he wasn't hanging out with Josuke or Koichi, his mind would be consumed by thoughts of Keicho Nijimura. For so long, whenever he went home to the monstrous form of his father, he would just sit on his bed and...stare at the opposite wall as he tried to tell himself his bro was gone, and no amount of denial was going to change that.

And the pain he was feeling right now might have been even worse than the pain he felt when his older brother died.

He did not cry, he did not shout, he did not do anything to let out the grief building within his chest. He just walked along the streets near his house for hours on end. And he hadn't talked to any of his friends for a while, despite their efforts to reach out to him.

Even if they tried to help him, he knew they couldn't.

How could they help him deal with the loss of his best friend when it was his fault? When he was literally right in front of Josuke, when he wasn't even ten feet away and when he could have done something to save him, he didn't and now his bro was...

_Motherfucker,_ he thought as he let out yet another sigh. The rain had thoroughly drenched every part of his body now, getting colder by the moment, but he did not care.

If anything he was glad he was cold, it took away his focus from the bottomless pit of despair in his stomach.

It was then he felt the rain stop, which confused him because there was no way such heavy rain could just stop in a second. Looking up, he saw that there was a white sleeved covered arm holding an umbrella right above him. Slowly his eyes followed the arm and saw who was holding the umbrella.

He was a tall man, over six feet tall, his muscles were bulging even underneath a black turtleneck shirt with a golden palm emblem on the neck. He wore a long, white, lapelless trench coat that reached all the way to his shins and had on equally white, wide-legged pants. Two black belts were wrapped around his waist and the cuffs of his coat were a light purple with medium sized yellow triangles. A white visored cap with a row of black Venus symbols with an arrow at the bottom of each cross and another golden palm emblem sat on his black-haired head.

Light blue eyes were staring at Okuyasu as the punk instantly recognized the man.

"Mr. Jotaro," Okuyasu said, raising an eyebrow at the muscular twenty-eight-year-old. This was Jotaro Kujo, one of the strongest Stand Users in the world, and a man Okuyasu and practically every Stand User in Morioh respected.

"...You need an Umbrella?" Jotaro asked, and Okuyasu saw he was holding another umbrella over his own head. Okuyassu sat back on the bench as he looked towards the umbrella over his head.

"...Sure," he took the black umbrella out of Jotaro's hand and held it in his own. He would be lying if he said the coldness spreading throughout his body wasn't getting just a little rough to deal with.

It was then Okuyasu noticed something clinging to the back of Jotaro's leg. Looking closer, he saw it was a little girl with twin buns on the side of her head. She wore a black dress that showed her shoulders, light green spiderweb lines were etched into the front and back of her outfit. Pink butterfly emblems were scattered on her dress and pink shorts, some placed on the spider-webs and two were placed on both of her hair buns. She had dark black boots and had dark black hair, the front of her hair was dyed a dirty yellow, while the back of her hair was tied in a small braid.

Turquoise eyes peeked from behind Jotaro's leg, staring at Okuyasu. The punk could see she was holding a tiny pink umbrella in one of her hands.

"Mr. Jotaro," Okuyasu pointed at the girl clinging to the marine biologist leg, raising a brow. "There some little girl following you."

Jotaro did not respond at first, simply adjusting his cap as he glanced at the girl grabbing his leg. "Jolyne," he said, and with just that word the girl let go of his leg and stepped in front of Jotaro. There was a hint of nervousness in her face, but she still stared right into Okuyasu's brown eyes.

"Okuyasu," Okuyasu looked up towards Jotaro. "This is my daughter, Jolyne Kujo."

"..." Okuyasu said nothing, simply looking from Jotaro to Jolyne. "This is your daughter?" Okuyasu eventually asked.

"Yes," was the single curt reply Okuyasu got.

"I see." He nodded.

Had Okuyasu not been consumed by sorrow and grief, he might have shouted 'holy shit' at the top of his lungs as his widened in shock. But since he was still incredibly sullen, he did not say that.

Instead, he just thought that.

_HOLY SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!_ Though his expression was neutral, on the inside Okuyasu was having trouble not dropping his jaw.

Jotaro Kujo, the man who never showed any emotion whatsoever, the man whose face was constantly in a deep frown, the man who beat the ever loving crap out of so many people and should not be allowed  _anywhere_ near children had a  _daughter?!_

No, more important than that, if he had a daughter did that mean...he was MARRIED?!

A quick glance and Okuyasu did, in fact, see a ring on Jotaro's finger; Okuyasu was sure Jotaro's fingers had been barren until right now, and seeing the ring blew the teen's mind.

How did this man, who had the emotional capacity of a rock, who was still awesome and sometimes wise, have a wife? What kind of a woman could get Jotaro Kujo, the man who was basically the real-life Kenshiro, to start a family? What kind of goddess could smite this stone-cold badass? Whoever she was, Okuyasu assumed she was both the most beautiful and most frightening woman of all time.

And it was at this point that Okuyasu realized he had been blankly staring at Jolyne while he had his mental tirade.

Coughing into his fist, Okuyasu gave Joylene a small, shaky smile. "Nice to meet ya, Jolyne."

Jolyne did not return his greeting, instead glaring cutely at the man in front of her. "Daddy, I don't trust this sketchy looking dummy."

Okuyasu was not offended by that, he was used to being seen as a threat because of his looks, but he was surprised by the ferocity in Jolyne's words. Had she not had such a cute voice, Okuyasu was sure he be a bit scared by the intensity of her expression

"Jolyne," Jotaro said, and Jolyne's expression shifted to one of nervousness as she looked towards her father. "What did we say about insulting people."

"... That if you insult someone, you better make sure it's cool and short?" She answered, giving Jotaro a shaky smile as she rubbed the back of her neck.

"And?" Jotaro said, and Jolyne shyly looked down to the curb

"... And you should only insult someone if they deserve it, not to people you don't know." She looked back to Okuyasu, giving him a short bow. "I'm sorry for talking trash to you sir."

"Um, it's fine Jolyne," Okuyasu replied. "In fact, I think more girls should be like you, spunky and adorable."

Jolyne gave Okuyasu a big smile at his words, but Jotaro looked at his daughter with a frown.

"You still can't insult random strangers, Jolyne." Jolyne pouted at Jotaro's words as the intimidating man looked at Okuyasu. "Okuyasu's a good friend of your dad's, so I like for you two to get along."

Okuyasu was a bit surprised hearing Jotaro call him a friend. "I have to talk to him about some important stuff, so you can do whatever you want so long as you stay within my sight."

"Can I go play in that big puddle over there?" She asked, pointing to a large puddle of rain water right across the street on the opposite curb.

"Sure."

"Yaaaaay!" She shouted, looking both ways before crossing the street and jumping into the large puddle. Jotaro sat down next to Okuyasu and the two sat in silence on the bench. A few minutes passed, neither said a word as Jotaro stared at his daughter playing while Okuyasu was again slouched forward, letting his sorrow consume his mind again. Eventually, though, the curiosity growing inside Okuyasu surpassed his sorrow as he looked towards Jotaro.

"I didn't know you had a daughter, Mr. Jotaro.." He said.

"Jolyne stayed at home with her mother while I went to Morioh. But since I ended up staying here longer than I imagined and my wife became busy with work, Jolyne was sent here to stay with me." He gave Okuyasu a glance. "Is it that surprising I have a kid?" He asked.

"Yes," Okuyasu said without thinking, and upon realizing what he said he quickly amended that statement. "Er, I mean, you don't look like someone who would...settle down and have a family."

For just a second, a ghost of a smile graced Jotaro's lips. "Well, sometimes life takes you on a bizarre adventure, and at the end..." He looked towards his daughter, who was giggling like crazy. "You get a prize you never once considered an option."

His smile quickly vanished as he turned towards Okuyasu. "That aside, I did come here to talk to you."

Right. Jotaro did say that he had something important to tell him...could it be?

"Is it about Josuke?" Okuyasu asked, a faint glimmer of hope in his voice, but Jotaro's cold eye all but crushed that hope.

"Sorry but," he let out a long sigh before continuing. "The Speedwagon Foundation still hasn't found anything, the lead we had just lead to another dead end."

"...Oh, okay," Okuyasu said, looking at the ground once again. The grief within him grew as he let out a sigh. "Damn it."

It had been several weeks since Josuke Higashikata had entered that mysterious crack in the streets and vanished from Morioh along with Kira. Every Stand User in the town had seen the incredible light that came from the crack, and once it faded everyone had wondered what the hell had happened. Jotaro, Koichi, and Rohan ran towards the street where his best friend once was, and while he was too shocked to explain anything, Hayato had told them what happened.

Immediately after that, Everyone searched every inch of the town for Josuke, eliciting the help of every one of his bro's friends to aid in their search. But even with every Stand User in Morioh helping them, they could not find Josuke Higashikata. After hours of searching, they all came to the same conclusion.

Josuke was no longer in Morioh.

Everyone had gone to the Reimi Sugimoto, the ghost girl who could feel if a person soul had moved on to the next world if they were killed by Kira. While she had said she hadn't felt either Josuke's or Kira's soul pass, that did nothing to ease their worry. Days seemed to pass in seconds as they tried every method they could think of to locate Josuke. They tried Yuya Fungami's Stand, Highway Star, to track down Josuke's scent, but the purple Stand could not get a clear direction as to where Josuke went. Okuyasu had asked Mikitaka Hazekura, the alien he and Josuke had met, to see if he had any tools or abilities to help locate his bro. Unfortunately, the alien answered that he had nothing that would aid in the search for Josuke, but he would do whatever he could do to help find his friend.

Jotaro and the Speedwagon Foundation had done the most in the search for Josuke. They used every resource they had, thinking that the crack might have transported them to some place in the world. They had followed every lead they could get their hands on, but after weeks of searching they had made no progress.

Okuyasu had started to think Josuke was dead. That he had died along with Kira in that crack, that he had died to protect his home.

And Okuyasu had been blaming himself ever since that God-awful day.

"We're still looking," Jotaro continued, but Okuyasu wasn't looking at him and instead at the ground. "Josuke has to be somewhere, and we will find him.

"... I'm pretty sure he's dead." Okuyasu said, glancing at Jotaro to see his reaction. Jotaro did not say a word; he did not try to convince Okuyasu otherwise and instead waited with a calm expression for Okuyasu to continue.

"Everyone's saying that someone like Josuke couldn't have died like that, all I've been hearing is how he was the strongest guy they know and that he can't be dead but... how the fuck does strength help you when you're facing death." He let out a long sigh. "Josuke's like my brother in a lot of ways; both of those guys were so strong, both of them could take on the world and might even win if they did. But they're still human. They could still die. No matter how strong you are, you're not immortal and you can die in almost any way. So whenever I hear my friends say that because Josuke is so strong he can't have died in such a lame way... I feel like he's been killed right in front of me and my heart feels like it got stabbed by a big, rusty knife"

Clenching his fist, Okuyasu's body trembled. "I thought Keicho was the strongest guy out there, I thought he was invincible and wouldn't lose to anybody. But not only did he lose to somebody, despite how strong he was, my big bro still died. He died... protecting my sorry ass."

He was snarling, his eyes full of anger. He felt his blood beginning to boil. "And then Josuke gets sucked up into that crack, with me right there but once again powerless to help him, and I... I think history repeats itself and once again someone I care about is killed and taken straight to hell!" He slammed his free hand against the bench, actually able to leave a dent in the wood. He dropped the umbrella as it rolled on the ground, letting the rain pelt him once more.

"Mr. Jotaro, have you ever felt helpless?" Okuyasu asked, but he had a feeling the answer would be no. "Have you ever felt like that no matter how much power a man has, he can't stop death from taking his family away? That no matter how strong your friends are, they can't cheat death? That you can't stop something that's impossible to stop."

Okuyasu stopped talking, simply looking at nothing, his rage lessened with each passing second. Sorrow soon took over his body as he let out yet another depressed sigh. He was sure Jotaro by this point was about to-.

"Kakyoin."

"Huh?" Okuyasu said, looking up at the hulk of a man. "Who's that?"

"That is the name my friend who died helping me defeat Dio, a blonde asshole with an incredibly strong Stand." Okuyasu had heard bits and pieces of Jotaro's past exploits, most of those details came from Joseph Joestar, and this was the first time he had heard the name Kakyoin. "He was a good friend, made weird sounds whenever he ate cherries and was a strong Stand User. But he still died.

Okuyasu was listening intently, Jotaro staring into his eyes as he continued. "I also knew a man named Avdol, a fortune teller who sucked at poker but was a man I could always rely on. He died from one of the blonde asshole's minions. And then there was Iggy, a shitty dog who was just a pain in the ass to deal with, but somehow became a loyal friend near the end of our journey. His corpse was so mangled it barely even resembled a dog."

Jotaro stood up, also dropping his umbrella as he gazed at the sky. "I learned about their deaths in the midst of battling Dio, so at the time I couldn't really focus on them. During our fight, Dio had drained all the blood from my gramps, becoming stronger than ever but I was still able to kick his ass. Afterward, I was in an ambulance with my dying gramps and then it hit me."

He let out a sigh as he adjusted his cap. "Most of my friends were now dead, gone for good and I was right there and couldn't do anything about it. For the first time in my life, I felt... Sorrow. A deep and crushing sorrow over the fact that some of the greatest men I ever knew were killed because a blond vampire had a god complex. And my own grandfather looked like he was about to meet the same fate as my other friends. And do you know what I thought at that moment?" He asked, and Okuyasu shook his head to the side.

"I thought, 'like hell I'm gonna someone else die on my watch.' So giving death the biggest piss off I could muster, I revived my gramps even though everyone told me it was impossible."

Jotaro's eyes held a fiery determination, and Okuyasu gulped at the look he was receiving. "Okuyasu, it's true that sometimes life can be cruel and hurt those who mean something to you. But sometimes, a powerful man can change what is known as impossible and perform a miracle. And that is who Josuke Higashiakta is, and that is what your friends mean when they say he is strong. Josuke is a man whose power comes from the bonds of his friends. He is a man who can always defy seemingly unstoppable forces and a man who can pull off a miracle when all hope is lost."

Jotaro turned away from Okuyasu, picked up his umbrella and walked across the street. "And that's why I'm confident he will definitely return to Morioh. Because that asshole has the power to beat death a hundred times over."

Jotaro walked towards his daughter before giving Okuyasu one last glance. "So I think you should stop moping around and help find that purple haired bastard. It wasn't your fault, and Josuke wouldn't want you blaming yourself over this."

Jotaro then walked off with his daughter, who was still giggling like the child she was. Okuyasu let those words sink in, the rain still going strong as he felt his socks fill with water.

And then, for the first time in weeks, Okuyasu felt the grief in his heart almost completely vanish. He had been blaming himself for weeks on end, telling himself that it was his fault Josuke vanished and most likely died. No one else had convinced him otherwise until right now.

Jotaro Kujo really was one hell of a man.

_He's right,_  Okuyasu thought as he grabbed the umbrella on the floor.  _Josuke can't be dead because he's got real strength. Either he'll get back on his own or we'll find him and bring him back ourselves._

His lips moved into a small grin as he held the umbrella overhead as he walked back home.

"Josuke, wherever you are, you better not give up and get your ass back to Morioh soon."


	5. Let Me Live

Steven had been on many adventures before. Some of them were fun and surreal, the journeys where Steven learned something new about the Gems and their powers. Some of them were intense and frightening, most of these adventures ended up with Steven and The Gems injured after going up against a tough enemy. And some resulted in Steven making new friends, realizing that some of his enemies just needed someone to call a friend and he welcomed them with open arms into his family. Those were the best kind of journeys for Steven, the son of Rose Quartz empathy knew no limits as he always tried to see thing from others perspective, even for corrupted Gems whose minds were shattered.

But it was different this time.

This was the first time an adventure unsettled Steven to his core.

He, Amethyst, Pearl, and Garnet were currently in a small house, located near the main streets of the town. Steven was in the home's large living room, head looking under every chair and sofa he could find. Upstairs, Garnet and Pearl were looking through the only bedroom in the house while Amethyst was downstairs searching through one of the bathrooms.

"Have you found anything yet, Amethyst?" He heard Pearl ask.

"Nope!" Amethyst shouted. "Just a lot of candy, and they're pretty good."

"... Do those candies have the word 'soap' written anywhere on them?" Pearl said, and Steven could imagine Pearl narrowing her eyes.

"Let me check...oh yeah, they do." There was a pause, and Steven was sure he heard the sounds of something soft and mushy being chewed on. "I'm still gonna eat them."

"Amethyst, remember why we're here." Came the stern voice of Garnet as Steven looked underneath a painting of fruit. "We can not waste time, not when the mission is this important."

After he, Amethyst, and Peridot had returned and told the other Gems at the temple what had Dewey had told them, they both looked shocked at the news. They were obviously not expecting something like this, and why would they? They had been scanning for anything Gem related or peculiar happening in and outside of the town for weeks now, and ever since Jasper's attack on Steven with the corrupted Gems, they had been guarding over every part Beach City with an intense resolve. They were confident in their abilities to protect their family and home, and since Garnet's future vision event, every one of the Crystal Gems had been stepping up in their duties. Pearl and Garnet had been protecting Beach City with such skill and precision that they were sure they would notice anything dangerous going on in the quiet town the moment anything happened.

So it probably came as a big blow to their pride to know that something had snuck passed them and done something to the people they swore to protect.

Steven, Amethyst, and even Peridot could relate to the other Gems turmoil. But like the strong and determined women Steven had known for years, they pushed aside those feelings to focus on the important matter at hand. Though it stung, every one of the Crystal Gems had to accept the fact they messed up and would have to rectify that mistake.

Steven truly hoped that they could do it. The doubt within him clung to his heart as he could still hear Bismuth's laughs echoing in his psyche.

Pearl had quickly decided they had to investigate this matter immediately. Garnet had agreed, their stoic leader telling Steven to contact Dewey and ask him who was the most recent person to disappear. Scolding himself for not asking such an obvious question sooner, he ran towards to his room and grabbed his cellphone. A quick call to mayor Dewey's personal cell, Steven had acquired that number from after helping Dewey so many times in the past, and he found out the address of the woman who disappeared. Steven also learned her name was Abigail.

Pearl had asked Peridot to stay here, since the other Gems knew the locations better, and had asked her to tell Lapis what they had learned, and also to check around the barn. Though it was unlikely, perhaps there was some clue as to what was happening to the town there, despite how slim the chances were. And with a somewhat formed plan, Steven, Amethyst, Pearl, and Garnet raced to the house of one of the missing people.

Surprisingly Lion had decided to accompany the four Gems as they left the temple, the pink beast letting out a small growl as his face turned into a snarl before following the others. Steven could tell Lion's anger wasn't directed at them, but at what specifically, the teen had no idea.

The sun had set by the time they left the beach, and the stars above them twinkled as they provided extra lights for the roads of Beach City in addition to the street lamps. Steven had always found Beach City alluring at night; the town seemed to transform whenever the cover of the night covered the small city.

But right now Steven did not wish to spend any more time on the streets than he had to. After a few more minutes of running, Steven had declared they had finally reached the house. It was a small light blue home in the same beach house design as nearly every house in the city. Dewey had told Steven that the woman who went missing here had disappeared a few weeks ago. The police had thoroughly checked the house but had found nothing to help them in their search for the missing woman.

There was a bit of police tape blocking the door, but Garnet had punched a large hole in the door to allow the Gems to enter...even though Steven had told her the door was unlocked.

It was still cool, though.

Lion had stayed outside, seemingly wanting to guard the Gems just in case something tried to attack them. So the remaining Crystal Gems had searched the house, looking through every inch to see if there was something to tell them what had happened. Pearl used her gem to light up the dark house, since the power had been cut off for the small building, giving Steven and Amethyst flashlights she had found in a closet as the peach-haired Gem and Garnet went upstairs. Amethyst meanwhile had looked through the kitchen, eating some of the slightly expired food in the refrigerator before deciding to check some of the bathrooms.

Which left Steven in his current situation. Searching by himself in a dark room with a flashlight as he tried to find any form of evidence to help him figure out what was happening to the people of Beach City.

"Steven, have you found anything yet?" He heard Pearl shout and the young Gem let out a sigh before responding.

"No Pearl, I've got nothing except a lot of dust!" He shouted back so that Pearl could hear him.

"Be careful not to inhale any of it!" He heard her quickly shout, worry evident in her words and Steven could imagine her nervous face.

"I will!" He responded as he went back to searching. Steven and the others had been searching for at least an hour now, but like the police, they could find nothing. Though they had abilities to help them fight terrifying creatures on a daily basis, but none of those powers were really helpful in this situation.

And Steven was beginning to feel like there was nothing here in this house that could tell them what had happened.

_Really glad I'm not hearing Bismuth again,_ he thought. He didn't think he could handle another 'talk' from his mind's version of Bismuth. The doubt and fear within him were mixing together in his stomach, and it made Steven feel awful. Thankfully, none of the Gems seemed to notice and he was thankful for that fact. He wondered when he had gotten so good at hiding his own emotions-.

He paused as his eyes caught sight of something. On one of the black wooden desk, there was a picture frame that had been that had been pushed flat onto its back. Walking towards the desk, Steven picked up the picture frame and saw the glass covering the frame was cracked, several pieces scattered atop the desk. Inside the brown frame was a picture of a woman with dark yellow hair posing in front of her home. She looked like she was in her late thirties, but what drew Steven's attention was the beaming smile on her face. Steven figured that this must have been Abigail.

_She must be a very happy person,_  Steven thought, seeing the joy practically leaping off Abigail's face. Steven felt the familiar crushing weight of guilt not a second later, his eyes now locked onto the picture. Because he and the Gems had not realized something so obvious, people were being snatched away from their lives by who knows what. He had failed to help people when that were in trouble, the job that should have been so easy to him by this point. Even with all the improvements he thought he had been making, he still couldn't help these missing people. What kind of Crystal Gem was he if-

"Steven, did you find something?" A voice asked from directly behind, and Steven let out a startled yelp as he almost dropped the picture. Turning around, he saw both Garnet and Pearl standing behind him, Pearl's eyes holding a curious gleam.

"I-uh, found this picture." He said shakily, handing over the photo to Garnet as the leader of the Crystal Gems examined the photo. "It's broken, though."

Pearl looked at the photo as well, placing a finger under her chin. "So far this is the only object we have found that's broken, which is strange." She said, taking the picture out of the frame and examining its back.

"Why's it strange?" Steven asked.

"Well, Dewey said that this was the last place Ms. Abigail was seen, correct?" Pearl said, and Steven nodded his head. "Her friends saw her enter her home, but the very next day when her family came to visit her they found no one here, so we can assume she vanished at some point in the night. Since she lives on such a busy street, we can also assume someone would have seen her if she left her house."

"I'm with you so far," Steven said.

"Which means we can theorize that something came and abducted her at some point in the night. But the strange part is..." She turned her head and looked around the house before looking back at Steven. "There are no obvious signs of wreckage one would expect from a struggle, especially if this was something Gem related. The only way anything could have gotten into here was through the open window Garnet and I discovered upstairs in Abigail's room."

Pearl's face became pensive, her eyes narrowing. "Since all the doors and other exits were locked from the inside, we can deduce the fact that the thing that took her went through the window. Yet there's no way whatever took her could carry her out of a window, someone, her neighbors for instance, would have surely noticed a young woman being carried off by some creature even in the dead of night. And how did whatever's causing the disappearances subdue these women so quickly? It's obvious there wasn't much of a fight."

Pearl stared at the picture in her hand. "Something was here, something took this poor woman away, and it's clear that whatever did it is very dangerous and stealthy. If it was able to get past our guard, and the eyes of who knows how many people over the weeks, it's obviously very intelligent and does not want to be caught."

Steven had stars in his eyes as a smile spread throughout his face. "Oh my gosh, Pearl, that was amazing! You're like a real-life Sherlock Holmes!"

Pearl blushed, not expecting the praise as she gave a shy laugh. "Oh, that nothing special Steven. The real Holmes had a far better analytical eye and more refined skills of deduction and-"

"Pearl," Garnet interrupted, her head turning towards the slightly shorter gem. "Take the compliment, it's very accurate." She offered the ivory Gem a small smile and Pearl couldn't help but return it. But it only lasted for a few seconds before her mouth turned into a small frown.

"But we still don't know what caused this or how it took all these women." Pearl began, "we have to do more investigating, so we should probably go check out the other spots where the other women disappeared."

Steven's expression became sorrowful as he was reminded of the gravity of the situation, and by extension his guilty conscious. "Yeah, we should probably do that." After all, they had to find the actual thing that did all of this, and so far they had come up empty-handed.

Steven suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder as he looked up and saw Garnet crouching down to him. "Steven, I know you're worried, but don't be." Garnet's voice was its usual calm tone, but underneath it, there was a touch of care and understanding. "We made a mistake, but we will fix it. Your mother entrusted us to protect Beach City, and we will. Something slipped into our home, but that does not mean we're weak or that we failed. You know how strong we all are, so we shouldn't continue to blame ourselves because we will find whatever did this and make it pay."

Garnets words should have boost Steven's mood, but unfortunately, they also stung so much Steven had trouble not wincing. Garnet had meant to encourage the young teen, but instead, they made Steven's doubts and fears continue to grow within his stomach. How could he not blame himself? She had reminded him of how much he had let down his mother by failing to be strong enough to protect his town, and now people were suffering because of how weak he was. The Gems were strong, yes, but him? He was mediocre at best, nowhere near the level he was supposed to be at by now.

And at the same time, the stoic Gem had made him wonder if Rose really did ask them to protect this town and if she really did care about Beach City. He had no way of knowing since he wasn't there and because his parental figures told him little about his own mom. For all he knew, everything they told him about Rose could be...lies.

_This girl has future vision, and yet somehow she can't see you how much you're hurting. She can't even see how you're calling the rest of the Gems out on all their lies, and frankly, it's about time you stopped believing them._

Once again hearing the voice of Bismuth in his head, Steven had a very hard time of not letting the terror whirling within him creep onto his face. When he heard Bismuth, he had realized that if actually listened to the disembodied voice of the battle frenzy Gem, he would be crazy. There was no way this voice in his head could possibly be right.

_Garnet didn't mean to upset me, she's just trying to calm me down. Which is what you should be doing right now Universe, not freaking out over things that couldn't be further from the truth._  He thought, trying not to get rid of those awful thoughts about his family that loved him to death.

"Steven, is something the matter?" Pearl asked, most likely noticing some of the stress Steven was experiencing. He gave Pearl his best smile, which was somewhat shaky, before speaking.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He said, rubbing the back of his neck. "I'm just a little tired is all. It's been a really long day, you know."

"Well, as much as I would like for you to go home and get some rest, we still have to investigate this matter." Pearl said, "and we need as much help as we can get, so I'm glad you're with us for this Steven." She smiled, and Steven took the compliment without taking it as an insult towards his skills. The Gems weren't like that, they honestly believed in him and his strength, and they were happy that Steven had made such strides in his powers.

So Steven should be just as happy, no longer focusing on the voice in his head, his lips curled upward as he gave the two Gems in front of him his best cheerful smile. "Thanks, Pearl."

"Well, I'm just stating all the prowess you've made in your abilities, so no need to thank me." Pearl gave Steven a smile, but it soon faded when she heard the sounds of water splashes coming from the halls. Her eyes narrowed before she took in a long breath. "Amethyst is that you!" Pearl shouted, and a few seconds later the purple Gem responded.

"Yeah!"

"...Are you stuck in the toilet?  _Again?!"_  The exasperation in her voice was incredibly thick, the tall Gem's left eye twitching.

"...Yes." Upon hearing her answer, Pearl let out a groan as she pinched the bridge of her nose. "But it's not like last time! I thought there might be something inside here, so I shapeshifted to go inside it. I saw there wasn't anything and came out, but I turned back to soon and well... My legs stuck."

"I swear, Amethyst sometimes I want to..." She trailed off, giving Steven a glance before a large frown spread throughout her face. "I'm not using my spear this time Amethyst!" She shouted before walking into the hall and towards the bathroom. Leaving Steven alone with Garnet.

"We should wait outside," Garnet said as she walked towards the entrance door. "It shouldn't take Pearl to long to get Amethyst out."

"Okay," Steven said as he quickly followed, carefully stepping through the large hole Garnet had made. They waited outside, Lion sitting down next to Steven on the steps to the house, and a few minutes later an irritated Pearl walked out of the house along with a very soaked Amethyst.

"Did you wash your hands like I asked?" Pearl said to Amethyst.

"Yes, for the tenth time I washed my hands," Amethyst replied with a roll of her eyes before looking at the others. "So, where's the next place?" She said, but just as Steven was about to answer, he heard the sound of footsteps coming from behind him. It sounded like someone was running right at-.

He suddenly felt someone tackle him to the ground. He heard the Gems shout his name in surprise as the back of his head made contact with the street.

"Ow," Steven groaned, slowly looking up to see what had slammed into him, and he was shocked at what he saw.

For sitting on top of his stomach was a light-skinned boy with a small tuft of blond hair and somewhat chubby face. He had on a white sweater, a deep blue shirt tied around his neck like a cape, and pale red pajamas on his legs. He had no visible ears, but he could hear just as fine as anyone else, and his head was onion-shaped. This was, ironically, Onion, Steven's... Friend? Who took a small amount of joy in getting on Steven's nerves, constantly annoying the young Gem. Even though the small child had never spoken any actual words to Steven, Steven always felt his patience being tested to the max whenever he hung out with Onion.

But now Steven saw something in Onion's eyes that disturbed him. Steven could see desperation within the boy's eyes, and he just now realized how tightly Onion was gripping onto his pink shirt. Onion usually had an unreadable expression, almost as stoic as Garnet at times, but now it was obvious the boy was very frightened by  _something._

And then Steven remembered the look Dewey had when he first told him about the incidents happening at Beach City. Onion had the exact same expression as Dewey; if anything the boy looked worse than the mayor.

_Oh no,_ Steven thought, hoping that Onion wasn't here for the same reason Dewey had come to talk to him.

"Woah, Onion," He heard Amethyst shout, her and the other Gems quickly running towards Steven's fallen form. "What's the matter?" She asked, seeing the incredibly painful look on Onions face. And it was then the Gems hear more footsteps approaching, turning around and seeing that someone was running up the road that led to the house at high speeds. Steven could see that running up the hill was a young man with platinum blonde hair that pointed upwards and had icy blue eyes. He wore a grayish blue hoodie over a gray shirt with baggy orange pants and seafoam green shoes.

This was Sour Cream, Onion's older half-brother, and his long, angular face held a large amount of worry as sweat dripped from his forehead.

"Onion!" He shouted, finally reaching Onion and the Gems as he stopped running, taking in greedy gasps of air. "You... You can't just sprint off alone in the dark." It was then he notice Steven and his family, and his eyes widened. "Steven! Dude, I need to talk to you like right now!"

"Sour Cream, what's wrong?" He asked, and Onion finally got off Steven and stood beside his brother. Steven slowly got up as Sour Cream finished gasping.

"Dude, you haven't seen our mom have you?" He asked, and fear coiled around Steven's heart.

"Wh-What did you just say," Amethyst asked, and her voice was so meek Steven barely recognized it. Glancing at the purple Gem, he saw that the Gem's only visible eye whirled with icy horror.

"My mom, have you seen her?" Sour Cream said again, looking at the four Gems and one lion in front of him. "I just-I haven't seen her-Onion's been freaking out and so have I and I'm really starting to get worried." Steven could tell, Sour Cream's usual cool demeanor was replaced by wide, nervous eyes and a fearful expression. "So, have you seen her?"

Steven could not speak, his voice trapped underneath his guilt. Dread slithered in his stomach as he hoped he was overthinking it; hoped that Vidalia being missing had nothing to do with whatever was taking away the citizens of Beach City.

"No, we haven't seen her," Garnet said, though her voice was the same monotone as ever, for just a second a frown spread across her face before turning into a thin line.

"When was the last time you saw her?" Pearl asked, her eyes held a calm yet grave gleam.

"I went off to DJ for a rave, and I said goodbye to her before I left the house." Sour Cream answered.

"And when was this?" Pearl said in a hushed voice.

"Like, two hours ago," Sour Cream continued. "She said she was going to stay home and just chill. Yellowtail was out fishing, and Onion was out playing in Funland, but when he got home she was gone." When he finished, Steven saw Amethyst looked like she was close to panicking.

"Maybe she just decided to leave the house without telling you guys." She said, but her expression told Steven she knew that wasn't the case. Even if she didn't want to admit it to herself.

"Look, my mom might seem a little...irresponsible sometimes, but she would never leave without at least giving us a call to tell us where she's going. And she wouldn't just let Onion come home to an empty house." He then gave Onion a little pat on the back, and the pale boy put his hand in his pocket. "And she wouldn't ever leave the house without this, Onion found it on the floor."

Onion took out a small golden ring from his pocket.

"My mom might not look like it, but she's really sentimental about a lot of things. Especially her wedding ring, she doesn't wear it but she does carry it wherever she goes. She would never leave it, under any circumstances."

Sour Cream looked at the Gems in front of him with big, pleading eyes. "Do you guys have any idea what could have happened to her? This is pretty weird, and most of the time whenever something strange goes on here, you guys always seem to have an answer."

Steven felt his heart sink. "Um...Well-"

"I'm sorry Sour Cream, but we really have no idea what has happened to your mother." Pearl interrupted Steven, giving the young teen a small shake of her head. To him, Pearl's expression read as 'we can't let anyone else know what's going on, at least not now.' Which confirmed to Steven that the rest of the Gems were thinking the exact same thing he was.

Vidalia had been taken by whatever was taking the other women of Beach City.

"But that does not mean we won't help you find her," Pearl said, determination filling her eyes as she stuck out her hand. "May I borrow that ring for a moment?" She politely asked. Steven did not know why Pearl needed the ring, but he was too consumed by regret to ask why she wanted it.

"Yeah sure," Sour Cream said as he looked down at his little brother. "Give her the ring little dude."

Onion was hesitant, clearly not comfortable with giving something his mother found so precious. But slowly, he handed the ring over to Sour Cream and then his big brother gave the ring to Pearl.

"Thank you," She said as she walked over to Lion. "Lion, if you please." The pink beast then began to sniff the ring, taking in long inhales with his heart-shaped nose. He understood why Pearl wanted the ring now, Lion's nose was better than any dogs on the planet. Since Vidalia had only just disappeared a few hours ago, Surely he could get a good enough scent and track down Vidalia.

After a few more seconds of sniffing, Lion stopped and looked towards the east, eyes seeming to narrow at one specific location in the distance. Steven couldn't tell what Lion was looking at, but he knew his pet had found Vidalia's scent in that general direction.

Lion suddenly picked up Steven by his shirt with his teeth, placing the young gem on his back and then nudged his head to the east.

"I understand, buddy," Steven looked towards the others. "Lion's got her scent, and I think he knows where she is right now."

"Really!?" Sour Cream shouted, mouth morphing into a relieved smile. Onion looked at Steven with hope gleaming in his eyes.

"Yeah," He answered with a small grin.

"Alright, Steven you and Amethyst take Lion and get to wherever he thinks Vidalia is," Garnet ordered, and Amethyst quickly hopped onto Lion, arms wrapping around Steven's stomach. Her expression was still panicked, but it seemed less so than before. "Lion can travel faster with fewer people, so we'll try to catch up on foot."

"Can we come?" Sour Cream quickly asked Garnet. "Please, we want to make sure our mom's safe."

Onion looked at Garnet with a pleading expression, and Steven could see tears forming on the sides of his eyes.

"Of course," was Garnet's immediate response. Onion and Sour Cream's faces lit up with joy.

"Thank you so much!" He said before he and Onion quickly got on top of Lion's back. Onion whispered something into Sour Cream's ear. "Onion says we owe you guys big time."

"Steven, be careful," Pearl said, worry rising in her expression. "Be on the lookout for...anything."

Steven nodded, pushing aside the dread and regret swelling in his chest as he focused on the mission. Someone was in danger, and it was his job to save her.

"I will Pearl, but don't worry, I think we got this." He said, grinning at Amethyst who in turn gave Steven a small chuckle. Though he could hear worry within her voice.

"Alright Lion, let's go," Steven said, his expression turning deadly serious as Lion's eyes turned white. The pink animal let out a mighty roar, and from his mouth shoot out a large pink ring. The ring flew off like a rocket until it suddenly started to mix with the air, swirling like a whirlpool as the pink energy grew larger by the second. A pink portal soon formed from the ring, the energy coursing inside it made it impossible to see the other side of the portal.

"Whoa," Sour Cream's jaw hung open in astonishment, and Onion looked on with equal amazement.

"Okay little man, let's go." Amethyst's voice was unusually serious, eyes narrowed as she looked into the portal. She must have been really worried about Vidalia, even more so than Steven was.

"Hold on everyone!" And with that, Lion ran into the portal, the world around them changing into a plethora of colors as they seemed to fly through a rift in space and time.

And as they were transported in the bright and colorful portal, Steven tried to assure himself that they would find Vidalia and solve the mystery of the missing women.

Despite the fact a voice that wasn't Bismuth's in the back of his mind told him he was being a fool, he hoped that they would get their answers once they landed on the other side of the portal.

* * *

The wild hatred consuming Josuke was enough to make the Stand User let out deep and feral growls.

Crazy Diamond stood right next to him, and just like Josuke, its eyes held enough venom to kill a man a thousand times over. The blackened form of Killer Queen did not move even an inch, merely looking at both Crazy Diamond and Josuke with it's frigid and emotionless expression.

Josuke wanted to wipe that infuriating look off Killer Queen's face with a barrage of Crazy Diamond's punches. He wanted to unleash all the anger boiling within his blood and end the Stand, and by extension, Kira for good this time.

But even with all the rage erupting in his chest, even though he glared at the Stand in front of him with a fiery hatred in his eyes, he did not move from the building.

Because something was  _very_ wrong about this situation.

Josuke had thought he knew everything about Killer Queen and its bastard of a master. It was a close range Stand, just like Crazy Diamond, not able to go any more than ten feet away from Kira. Yet, Josuke could not see the psychotic bastard anywhere near Killer Queen, and that immediately made him question where the murderer was. And Killer Queen couldn't change its skin tone from pink to black in any of the past confrontations Josuke had with Kira, so why was it different now?

Something told Josuke that the Killer Queen in front of him was not the same Stand he had fought so many times before. The part of his brain that had been honed after countless battles and intense training had told him not to act, and instead wait and analyze the situation he was in. He was injured, one of his leg still unable to support his weight so that severely weakened his mobility, and in a battle like this that could mean his death. The fury coursing within him was suffocating, but he could not attack, not yet.

_Killer Queen hasn't made a single move, so obviously it wants me to get closer._  He thought as his mind replayed the bus blowing up, specifically, at the moment he saw Killer Queen throw...some kind of black object from its palm.

_It looks like this cat monster's got more powers than last time._ Josuke's eyes narrowed as he looked over Killer Queen, hoping there might be a hint as to what kind of new abilities the Stand could have gotten. When he saw nothing, his eyes looked around at the buildings and dark corners surrounding him, trying to find Kira but could find even a hint of the murderer.

So to sum up his situation, Josuke was fighting a Stand whose abilities were a mystery to him, the only thing he knew for sure was that they were deadly and  _very_  powerful just like all its other skills. And since Kira was nowhere to be seen, it meant Josuke could not just pummel the Stand user to death and end this fight quickly. He could not waste time trying to find him because if he took his focus away from the new version of Killer Queen, he knew that the Stand would have a much easier time killing Josuke. To top it all off, he was so injured that he could not even walk without limping, and as more of his blood flowed from his previously sealed wounds, he began to feel light headed.

In other words...

_This is just_ _great_ , he thought, coughing out a small glob of blood. To say the chances of him actually living through this encounter were small was enough to make Josuke chuckle, a grim smile sat on his face as he looked at the dark form of Killer Queen.

_But then again..._  His mind trailed off as the smile turned into a thin line, his eyes full of a fierce conviction.

_It's not like this is the first time the odds have been against me._ He thought, as the purple aura around him whirled like a maelstrom, both he and Crazy Diamond glared at Killer Queen, who still had yet to move from its spot.

Several seconds passed before Killer Queen spoke again in that distorted voice.

_**"Are you...angry?"**_ Killer Queen's mouth did not move at all, making it even creepier, as it tilted its head at the purple haired high school student.  _ **"Surprised? Perhaps even...shocked that I'm still...alive."**_

The way he put just the tiniest hint of emphasis on 'alive' gave it an undertone of cruel mockery. Josuke was sure that if it were possible, Killer Queen would be smiling at him. The more Kira talked through his Stand, the harder it became to not charge at the black Killer Queen standing in the middle of the street.

_**"I...admit that I was too..."**_ Killer Queen looked down at its body, raising its arms so that they were right in front of its face.  _ **"I never expected...to live... I was sure...that I would die...but instead..."**_

It spread its arms out wide, two apathetic eyes staring into Josuke's.  _ **"I became...so much stronger... Reaching a new plateau...of power..."**_ A pitch black aura surrounded Killer Queen as its unblinking eyes continued to stare.  _ **"I have become stronger than you will...ever be...I don't even have to be... in the same city as you...To kill you..."**_

Josuke knew that when Killer Queen said that the murderer was not here, the Stand wasn't speaking metaphorically. There was not a hint of a lie in the distorted voice of Killer Queen, and Josuke could tell why Kira was telling him such vital information. The murderer must have been certain he would die here, and that infuriated Josuke to no end.

_**"For you see...Josuke Higashikata..."**_ The energy faded away from Killer Queen, tendrils of black mist seeping from its back. Slowly, Killer Queen raised a hand and the black wisps began to whirl in its palm. More black tendrils of the unknown energy continued to pour into its palm, rotating in it as a ball of blackness began to take form. The orb continued to grow, eventually becoming as wide as Killer Queen's palm before the black mist eventually ceased to circle in its hand, the orb now the size of a large baseball.

Josuke watched this with foreboding curiosity, Crazy Diamond and his own body tensing as they prepared for anything.

_**"I have attained peace..."**_  Killer Queen pulled back its arm, the orb in its hand started to spin. _**"And no one will take that away from me!"**_

Josuke did not expect the anger coming from Killer Queen's voice as it chucked the ball of blackness into the air. It seemed to spin faster now as it headed right towards Josuke in a burst of speed.

With his body as damaged as it was, Josuke knew that he could not run away from the orbs path. So he did the next best thing.

"Crazy Diamond!" He shouted, and the Stand instantly jumped towards the building he was leaning on.

_**"DORARARARARARARA!"**_ Crazy Diamond let loose a fury of punches at super-sonic speeds, its fist easily destroying the bricks that made up the building's wall. In a second, a large hole was created on the side of the building as Josuke quickly jumped through it, trying to not scream from the pain that ran through his nerves. The moment he was inside the building, the bricks Crazy Diamond had just destroyed were surrounded by a yellow aura as they were lifted into the air. Almost instantly, every brick was once again placed firmly back into the hole, the building once again undamaged and fine.

At least until Josuke heard the sound of the black orb colliding against the wall. He had just enough time to turn around before an explosion rocked the building, the wall blowing up and sending bricks and cement everywhere. The force sent Josuke flying, Crazy Diamond flickering out of existence as he felt the flames from the blast burning his skin before he crashed into something hard and wooden.

But he barely noticed as his body suffered through such blinding agony that Josuke could no longer even scream. Blood was pouring out of his wounds, his left leg screaming as he was sure he  _shattered_  whatever bones were left in that limb. More blood spat out from his mouth, Josuke suddenly gasping for air. He wanted to rest, but he couldn't. He wanted to collapse but he wouldn't. He needed to get up now, or else he'd be damning so many people to their deaths.

Somehow he was able to stand back up again, even with the horrible pain stabbing into his body with every twitch he made. He called Crazy Diamond back into reality, the Stand appearing right beside Josuke as it wrapped one of its master's arm around its neck. Josuke noticed how little there was left of the energy that rippled throughout his blood. Usually, his power seemed near bottomless, as vast as the ocean, but now it felt as shallow as a puddle.

He had very little time left to use his Stand, so he had to hurry and end this battle.

He took in his surroundings, the pain dying down slightly as he saw he was in a very cramped apartment living room. He saw that he had crashed into a small wooden table, and noticed that the walls were a dull brown; a sink and fridge were nearby and it looked like nobody was home right now. Josuke was thankful for that fact as he tried to find the nearest exit out of here, but then the sounds of footsteps drew his attention. Slowly, Killer Queen approached the hole it had made, walking on top of the rubble of bricks as it stared down at Josuke. It had positioned itself so it was standing right under the improv entrance it had made before it spoke.

_**"I have... evolved, Josuke Higashikata."**_ The slow and distorted voice was quickly making Josuke angrier with every word it said.  _ **"I have gained new powers... I have transcended in ways you could not imagine...This terrifying being you're facing has immense power and sentience...And it is only a fraction of my new strength..."**_ As the black Killer Queen continued to talk, Josuke tried to find some form of exit and he did. Far back in the corner, there was a door, but he had no idea where it led. There was no way he could reach it with his injuries, which meant the only exit he could hope to escape from was the one being blocked by Killer Queen

_**"This new Killer Queen...is different from the one...you're used to facing... It is not my original Stand... but is a new bomb I have created...I call this being..."**_ Placing one hand on its left hip, it moved its right leg forward as it shifted its weight to its hind leg before tilting its head to one side.  _ **"Killer Queen..."**_

It lifted its remaining arm and pointed a finger at Josuke.

_**"LET ME LIVE!"** _

The moment Killer Queen: Let Me Live completed its pose, Josuke was assaulted by a wave of killing intent. The Stand User's eyes narrowed as he felt crushed under the weight of pure malice, but he refused to let the emotionless Stand see he was affected by its unholy bloodlust.

_**"Josuke Higashiakta... This time you shall die by my hands!"**_ Its voice was still slow and barely above a whisper, but there was a frantic energy now running within words.  _ **"This time... I shall watch you burn... Until there is nothing left... Not even Ash!"**_

Josuke looked down and saw the remains of the table he had destroyed.

_**"Never again...will anyone threaten the tranquil life I have craved... I will-"** _

"Do me a favor and just shut the hell up already!" Josuke screamed, Crazy Diamond reaching down to the floor and with lightning speed grabbed the splintered leg of the table.

_**"DORA!"**_ Crazy Diamond chucked the leg like it was a javelin, throwing it with pinpoint accuracy as it jettisoned through the air and straight to Let Me Live's head.

Yet the black Stand did not move an inch; instead, it looked on as the wooden leg plunged into its head.

At least, Josuke thought it did.

The wooden leg did hit the new Killer Queen, but instead of lodging itself in the Stand's head, it went right through the Stand and skidded into the streets outside.

The reason why the leg didn't stab Let Me Live? Its head had turned to black mist.

The spot where its head had once been was now empty, dark strands of mist now floating in the air above Let Me Live. Even without a head, the monster still stood tall.

_"What the hell?"_ Josuke thought before his nose was suddenly hit by a foul and toxic smell. He couldn't believe he hadn't noticed till now, the odor was so bad he felt like vomiting. It smelled a lot like old, pungent... gas.

His eyes widened in realization as the black wisps started to converge on the spot where the black Killer Queen's head was. The strands of blackness weaved through the air as they began to whirl around its neck. Slowly, the tendrils began to take shape, forming triangle shaped ears which then moved on to make a flat crown before finally swirling one last time to form the face of the black Killer Queen. Cold pink eyes once again gazed at Josuke.

_**"I see you've realized it... Josuke."**_ It raised its arm, and the tips of its fingers turned into the thin, black tendrils.  ** _"That's right... Let Me Live has the power...to create a gas-like substance."_** The black wisps of mist, no, gas reformed into Let Me Live's fingers as it clenched its hand into a tight fist.  _ **"The gas can form into an orb...which explodes on contact... In addtion, Let Me Live can transform its body...into pure gas which means that you..."**_ Even though its tone did not change, even though it was next to impossible to tell through the horribly distorted and slow voice, Josuke could still feel the surge of arrogance that radiated from Let Me Live's words.

_**"Can't hurt it."** _

Josuke did not respond at first, simply glaring at the new Killer Queen in front of him with a clenched fist. Crazy Diamond's expression was just as angry as his, even while holding Josuke, his Stand looked ready to leap and rip Let Me Live in two. But Josuke held himself and his Stand back; because now was not the time to do anything foolish. He already had a plan in his mind, but he needed to confirm one thing before he acted it out.

So, with his eyes no longer glaring at the new bomb in front of him, he spoke.

"... Wow, that's really impressive." Josuke said, a tiny smirk crossing his lips. The gaseous sentry did not respond, but Josuke was sure that if it was surprised by his reaction. "Turning into gas to avoid getting your ass handed to you, that sounds like an amazing defense; basically impenetrable."

Josuke then raised a brow at the Let Me Live. "But I just got one question for you."

Let Me Live still did not speak, but Josuke continued regardless.

"...Can you turn into that gas state instantly?"

It was then a yellow aura once again grew around Josuke as he channeled the power rippling inside his soul.

And it was then the remains of the broken table where Crazy Diamonds fingers brushed against glowed yellow.

The new Killer Queen eyes actually widened, it was small and only for a second but Josuke saw the motion, and whipped its head backward. The wooden leg Crazy Diamond had launched was soaring through the air, a yellow aura encasing the splintered wood as it was only a few feet away from stabbing Let Me Lives head.

It dodged, its head jerking to the right and the leg just missing it.

And in that split second, Josuke had one thought in his head.

_It evaded it... But it didn't turn into its gas form._

That was all the confirmation Josuke needed.

Crazy Diamond stomped its leg against the floor with enough strength and force to launch both Stand and teenager into the air and hurling towards Let Me Live. The black Killer Queen heard the noise coming from behind him, and turned around to see two of them flying towards it. Crazy Diamond was already inches away, pulling its arms back. Josuke saw the edges of Let Me Live's face starting to turn to black strands of gas.

But Crazy Diamond was faster.

_**"DORARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARA!"** _

With its signature roar, Crazy Diamond began its assault. Its arms were a blur, moving at speeds that made its gauntlet fist seem like a barrage of silver missiles. Each punch that landed on Let Me Live had the force of a train, the black Killer Queen's body convulsed and spasmed as the volley of steel smashing fist continued. Crazy Diamond moved even faster, each punch leaving deep and round dents in Ler Me Live's body before his Stand unleashed one last hurricane of a right cross into the center of Let Me Live's face.

_**"DORA!"**_ Let Me Live was sent flying, blood erupting from new cracks in its body as it was sent careening out of the building and outside. Josuke landed on one leg, Crazy Diamond supporting its master as the gaseous Stand collided with the wall of a building twenty feet away from Josuke.

The glowing wooden leg only now crashed inside the apartment as Josuke voice flared with rage.

"What was that you were saying about not being able to hurt you!" Josuke shouted, Let Me Live falling from the wall it was embedded in as it landed in on its knees onto the curb. The plumes of fire covering the street slightly obscuring the black bomb. "In case you're wondering how I figured out your bullshit, I'll tell you."

Pointing a finger at the crouched form of Let Me Live, Josuke's eyes narrowed. "I knew that you had the ability to touch solid objects, how else could you stop the bus in its tracks like you did? So I figured that if solid objects could touch you, then it was safe to say you could be hurt by them too."

Let Me Live's head looked up at Josuke.  _ **"You little-"**_

"All that was left was to figure out if you could automatically turn to gas without conscious effort." Josuke interrupted, and despite his battered and bloody body, a very taunting smirk spread throughout his face. "Even though the table leg I threw at you missed, Crazy Diamond could still use its powers to launch a sneak attack on you. Though, to be honest, I had a feeling you needed to physically activate your powers since a majority of your abilities need to be activated manually."

Let Me Live stood tall, glaring at the high school student. "If I had to guess, I say it takes about two seconds, no one second, for you to turn your body into gas. And I'm also willing to bet that if you get hurt, it takes even longer for you to turn into gas. Otherwise, you would have turned into gas and escaped in the middle of your beatdown."

_**"...I forgot...how rage inducing...your cleverness was."** _

Josuke smirk grew, and Crazy Diamond also smirked. "That's your own damn fault for forgetting that my brain is a terrifying storm of crazy but  _very_ effective plans."

A pitch black aura surrounded Let Me Live. Black tendrils sprouted from its back as they converged onto both of its palms.  _ **"Of course...you realize I'll never give you... another chance to hit me..."**_ the wisps of the gas whirled in its palms, two orbs as black as the night beginning to form as they began to rotate slowly.

Josuke eyes glared at Let Me Live as his brows furrowed together, all previous mirth gone from his expression and replaced by a vengeful fury; Crazy Diamond's face was just as enraged as his own.

"We'll see about that." Purple aura covered Josuke as the orbs in Kira's hand finished shaping as even more black tendrils seeped from behind it as it marched slowly towards Josuke. The light from the fire illuminated one half of its face but covered the other half in dark shadows.

Josuke knew he was in for yet another the fight for his life; and he sure as hell wasn't about to die today.

* * *

He liked nights like this the most.

Nights where the stars sparkled like diamonds, where the temperature was chilly but not freezing. He enjoyed nights where the moonlight flooded the streets, where barely anyone was out and it was just him and the sky above.

Nights like these were lovely to him. And it was on nights like these his urges loved to play, where something deep in his body called to him and almost begged him to kill; to exterminate others in a glorious blaze.

But he did not feel those needs on this night. He did not feel a crushing and heavy weight on his shoulders that whispered into his ear to kill. Firstly, because he had learned how to somewhat control his primal instincts... And secondly, he had already had his fill with murders for the day.

"Here's your order, sir." A teenage girl with curly dark brown hair said. She wore a white apron with a cyan shirt underneath, gray legging with the cuffs rolled up, and black shoes. A beige bandana covered the top of her hair as she placed a paper plate with a steaming pizza on the counter in front of him.

"Thank you very much," Kira said in English with a tiny smile. He took the plate from the counter, paid for the pizza and placed three dollars in the tip jar before walking towards the lone door that led outside.

"Have a wonderful day, sir!" the woman said, waving goodbye as Kira opened the door and exited the pizza shop. He walked a short distance along the boardwalk until he stopped and examined the pizza in his hand.

"Pizza and pineapple... What an odd combination." He muttered in his native tongue, picking up the slice before placing it in his mouth. He chewed for several seconds, letting the flavors swirl in his mouth before finally swallowing. "But it is rather tasty." Western cuisine was peculiar to him, but most of the time he still found it enjoyable. Beach City seemed to have an abundance of rather odd restaurants that specialized in rather strange recipes, such as a restaurant that only sold french fries that was a dozen or so feet away from him, but so far the food the small town had to offer was good.

"Aside from the creatures from another world attacking here, this town seems to have no flaws with it," Kira said as he took another bite of his pizza. Truly, this town might have even been better than Morioh. Living in a town full of fools who were even less attentive to dangers around them than those in Morioh was perfect for Kira. They were probably so ignorant because of the protection and safety the aliens provided. He could understand that since if he had been an ordinary citizen he would have felt safe knowing powerful, "magical" women and one child were guarding his city. And he was thankful for other people's lack of attention, it made committing his crimes easier, after all.

"Though, even if it's easier, I still take all the necessary precautions." He said in between bites, before looking down at his right pocket. "As I'm sure you can attest to that."

Slowly, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a severed hand. Blood was dripping from the end that was once connected to a human arm. It had only recently begun to turn from a vibrant pink to a lifeless gray; Kira brought it closer to his face.

"I must say, your hand is one of the finest hands I ever had the pleasure of holding." Kira said, examining every inch of the appendage. "Though, I must express my concerns about the lack of protection your home had."

A smirk crossed Kira's face. A vicious, cruel and sickly twisted smirk that looked positively demonic.

"A tarp for a garage door? Surely you could have thought of something better than that to use?" He received no response, but he let out a small chuckle. "I'm sorry you're right, I shouldn't judge your choice of doors." He took another bite of his pizza, a bit of sauce dripping down his lips. "You seem like a very interesting person, if you shooting at me with a shotgun is any indication. I simply can not wait to get to know you better."

He brought the hand and put it right on top of his pizza, running its dead fingers along the cheeses and toppings. "You live here, so tell me, what do you think of this shop?" Several seconds of silence passed before Kira smiled. "I see, you think the pizza here is great as well." He removed the hand from his pizza and took another bite. "I should eat out more? Well, I'm sorry my dear, but I love to cook my own meals. Every now and then I'll go out for food but mostly I eat at home."

Perhaps he should actually learn women's name before he incinerated them? It seemed unfair and insensitive to give every lovely lady he met the same nickname. Then again, most of the hands he acquired, even this interesting one, were still just hands of the dead.

So what would be the point in giving a corpse a name?

Just as he was about to take another bite he felt...a presence.

His eyes brows knitted together as he placed the corpse hand in his pocket. He turned around and looked at the near-empty boardwalk, watching as a car passed by before slowly driving out of sight.

After facing people with extraordinary powers, after fighting for his very life so many times, he had developed a...sixth sense as to when danger was approaching him. He did not know what, but he knew something was coming for him.

And then, about ten feet away from him, a bright pink portal came into existence. It ripped through reality, a small shockwave kicking up dirt and loose garbage. Kira could feel the energy radiating off the portal as he glared at it. He knew what this pink gateway was and who sent it; he had heard that the lion that had attacked him had the ability to travel great distances in an instant. Seeing it in real life, he would admit it was impressive, but he still tore his gaze away from the pink gateway and walked into an alley between the pizza shop and the fry shop. It was rather cramped, but he managed to slip through the tight space and to the other side. He was now facing one of the main town roads.

He peaked his around the corner of the alley and viewed the slightly obscured portal, waiting patiently as Killer Queen materialized and floated right next to him.

* * *

Steven held on tight to Lion as the mighty animal jumped from the portal and landed on something wooden. The world no longer a vast array of colors, he could tell he and the others were at...the boardwalk? Yes, this was the boardwalk. He could see Fish Stew Pizza, Beach City Fries and all the other stores he had visited so many times before.

"That was awesome." Turning his head, he saw Sour Cream had a large smile spreading across his face. "Do you guys travel like this all the time?"

"Sometimes. But you be surprised how many times we decide to just run instead of riding the magic lion." Amethyst replied as she hopped off of Lion. Onion also carefully got down and was followed by Sour Cream. Steven was the last one off, giving his Lion a small pat on the nose.

"Good job Lion," he said before looking around and trying to spot Vidalia. But he could not see even a trace of the mother of Onion and Sour Cream.

"Why would mom be at the boardwalk?" Sour Cream said as Onion quickly stood next to his big brother. "Do any of you guys see her?"

"I see nothing," Amethyst said, and Steven could see her one visible eye held concern. "But don't worry, we'll find her dude." Those words were said in an unusually quiet voice, and Steven could empathize with Amethyst. Whatever had taken Vidalia had been able to escape attention and the Gems for weeks, so there was a good chance that whatever was causing the people of Beach City to vanish had already fled.

But they  _couldn't_  fail now. Not when it was someone important to Steven and Amethyst whose well-being was at stake.

"Vidalia!" Steven shouted as loudly as he could. "If you can hear me please respond!"

"Mom, Onion and me are here too!" Sour Cream said, and Steven saw fear swelling in Onion's face.

"Vidalia if you're here just answer us!" Amethyst also shouted, eyes darting as she tried to find her friend. "Please be alright." She muttered to herself, but Steven could still hear her.

He felt the same, and the dread he had been feeling all night was slowly rising.

_"You can't focus on that right now Steven, Vidalia needs your help!"_ He thought before he turned towards Lion. "Lion, do you smell Vidalia's scent?"

* * *

Kira saw the boy he had met only yesterday leap from the portal while riding on a pink lion. Along with Universe, there was a child with a rather odd shaped head, a teenager with a very angular face and a short, long white-haired woman with lilac skin.

It did not take him long to realize that the woman was a Crystal Gem. In fact, he was sure he had seen her before on the first day he had arrived in this town.

He listened carefully to what they were saying, and apparently they were looking for a woman named...Vidalia.

He carefully put down his plate of pizza before he glanced at the hand in his right pocket, and then he remembered that the hand in his pocket did once belong to a woman named Vidalia.

_It looks like they are not as careless as I thought._  He thought, wondering if they knew what was happening to the citizens of this town or if they were just helping a friend without realizing they were inadvertently stumbling upon his murders.

Well whatever the answer was, he knew it would be in his best interest to dispose of "Vidalia." Though he had just met his precious companion, it would be foolish to keep her any longer with people actively looking for her. He did not want to hold any evidence of his crimes now that he knew someone was searching for one of his victims.

He had learned from his experiences in Morioh. He knew that when people with strange and incredible powers stumble onto something grave whether on purpose or by accident, a man's life can go from tranquil to hell in just a few weeks. And he refused to let that happen again. There was no reason to fight them, it would be both pointless and annoying, and he already had one man hell bent on ending him. He did not need another annoyance to start a futile battle that would end with their deaths in an attempt to end his tranquil existence.

He would detonate this hand and walk away like nothing had happened.

So with that thought in mind, he reached into his pocket and pulled out the severed appendage, wrapping it in a spare handkerchief he kept in his breast pocket. Killer Queen touched the handkerchief, but just as the humanoid stand was about to bring its finger down on its thumb like a detonator, he heard Universe speak.

"Lion, do you smell Vidalia's scent anywhere?"

_Wait...Smell?_

* * *

Lion began to sniff the ground as the others looked on. His pink friend continued to inhale through it nose before he suddenly paused. Lion's eyes narrowed as it lifted its head and turned towards an alley between Fish Stew Pizza and Beach Citywalk Fries.

"Do you smell Vidalia's scent coming from there, Lion?" Steven asked, pointing a finger at the alley.

Lion gave no verbal response; instead, he just continued to look at the alley with narrowed brown eyes. Steven raised an eyebrow at Lions lack of reply before stepping towards the alley.

"Vidalia, are you down there!" Steven shouted, but once again he did not hear any form of response, just the gentle and refreshing ocean breeze blowing through the night.

"V, are you-!" Amethyst ran forward, intent on going down the alley, but Lion immediately jumped in front of her path. Amethyst halted, almost bumping into Lion before looking up at the massive beast.

"Hey, what's the big ide-." She didn't finish as Lion suddenly started growling very loudly. Steven could feel the anger dripping from Lion's face as his growls grew louder, his trusty pet jumping in front of him.

It was almost like Lion was guarding Steven from…something. His growls only grew in intensity as he shifted into a lunging stance, as if anticipating an attack.

"Lion," Steven began, moving towards Lions side. "Is there someone down there?" Lion turned its head towards Steven, his face still contorted into a vicious snarl, but the pink animal nodded. "Is it...something dangerous?"

Lion gave a low roar, and as Steven looked at the alley once again, the shadows now looked very threating, seeming to glare at Steven from their covers of darkness.

But Steven was not afraid.

"Hey!" Steven shouted, his expression becoming serious as his eyebrows furrowed together. It was the same brave face he always wore whenever he was about to face a corrupted Gem. It was the face of a Gem who would not be frightened or stopped by anything when he had to help his friends and family. "If someone's there, come out now! I'm serious, just come out or else Amethyst and me are going to go in their ready to kick all kinds of butt!"

Once again there was no response.

"Lion, can you guard Sour Cream and Onion?" Steven glanced at his trusted pet, who gave a nod before quickly moving to the two regular humans.

"Hey man, what's going on?" Sour Cream asked. "Is our mom here or did Lion find someone else?" Onion looked just the tiniest bit nervous as he glanced from his big brother to the members of the Crystal Gems.

"Don't worry," Amethyst said, giving the two a big smile before walking towards Steven. "There's just something we got to check out down here, and there's a good chance this thing's related to your mom somehow." Once she reached Steven, her lips moved into a deep frown as she whispered to him.

"Steven, are you thinking what I'm thinking?" She asked.

"That whatever's been taking people from their homes is right down this alley?" Steven whispered back.

"Yep," Amethyst replied grimly, moving one hand towards the gem on her chest as it began to glow a bright purple. The light obscured her hand and parts of her torso, and from within the purple hue, Amethyst hand came out holding a whip. It was segmented into three dark violet tails with spiked balls at the end of each tail. Multiple shards of amethyst gems were embedded into the main lash and the pommel was made from a whole gem of amethyst.

The light faded as Amethyst gripped her weapon tightly.

"Steven If there is some kind of monster down this alley, be ready for anything," Amethyst said as Steven nodded his head.

"Gotcha Amethyst." Steven closed his eyes and in his mind, he formed the outline of something round. A luminesce pink glow came from beneath Steven's shirt that covered his body. He reached his hand inside the warm and comforting light he had felt so many times before and an object began to form on his arm. It was pink, almost translucent shield with a spiral of light pink rose thorns that lead to the center of his weapon. The edges of the shield were blue, and in the heart of his shield aside from the spiral was a rose shaped emblem.

With his mother's old shield in one hand, Steven gave one last glance at Amethyst before the two Gems proceeded to walk down the alley.

* * *

Kira was considering his options.

When he heard Universe talk to his pet beast, he immediately realized he had a problem on his hands. He could blow up the woman of his affection to ashes, but her scent would still linger, and the lion's nose seemed to be as effective as a bloodhound's. He had nothing on hand to help him get rid of the scent, so he had thought about running away. The problem was that even if he did run, they could still track him and just make a portal and this time he might not have enough time to hide from sight.

_I could come out and pretend I don't know anything_. He thought, but immediately saw the flaws in this course of action. If he did walk down this alley towards the group, he would have to explain why the woman's scent was coming from him. He did not know much about how smells were transferred, but he knew that spending hours with a corpse hand was bound to drench a man in its scent. And with the way the lion had begun to growl, he couldn't just say he had passed by his companion on the streets. There was no possible way they would believe the pink beast was snarling so much and had tracked him down with its nose simply because he talked to the blonde haired woman for a moment.

Which led him to his next thought.

_I could just kill them all._

Yes, it would be very easy to have Killer Queen use its powers to blow up each and every person on this boardwalk. He could take them all out and watch as they slowly burned away, watching their bodies disintegrate in a silent explosion.

It would not take long to kill them, and it might be worth it if he could get rid of the annoying pest hounding him.

The issue was that if he did kill these fools than the other 'protectors' of this town would most likely take over the mission their comrades had failed to complete. Which would lead to more fights and more headaches, and more problems Kira did not want to waste his time on. And then he had to add in Josuke who was still on his way here since Kira had received no word from his other bombs if they had killed teenager yet. Battling a powerful Stand user, one who would be able to actually fight Kira back, on top of aliens would give him the worst migraine of his life.

Even after he killed all of them, he doubted he would sleep well on that night. Especially if he had to use some of his new and far more lethal abilities. He could already imagine the complications using those powers would have on his body.

Good God, why was it so hard to live a tranquil life?

He heard Universe shout, ordering whoever he thought was hiding in the darkness to come out.

_What to do, what to do…._

He couldn't run away, and he did not want to fight anyone unless there were no other options. But now it looked like he would be forced into another irritating duel against a group of nosey brats he wanted no part of.

He sighed, rolling his eyes. He then adjusted his suit, carefully pressing away any wrinkles, pushed himself off the corner he was leaning on and was about to walk down the alley. About to kill these fools as quickly as he could.

But that was when an idea struck him.

True, he could not run away now, but if something were to happen that drew their attention away from him, he could escape with no problem.

And he had just the plan to do that.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a quarter, giving the small coin to Killer Queen. He heard footsteps coming down the alley, and his mouth set into a firm frown. He was not sure if this would kill them or not, but he hoped his attack wouldn't end them.

Otherwise, he might just have to go on a killing spree.

"Killer Queen," he whispered, and the Stand moved through the air ever so slowly until it was right in front of the alley's exit.

Without another word, his Stand flicked the coin.

* * *

Steven and Amethyst were halfway down the alley, the two Gems sticking close together as their weapons were held out in front of them.

And as they were traveling down the shadowy passage, Steven was suddenly hit with a horrible sense of foreboding that pooled in his stomach. It was worse than before, for some reason it felt like something bad was about to happen right. Now. He did not have Garnet's ability to see the future, but sometimes, during fights, a voice from the center of his mind would scream at him to move away from something dangerous. Images of his fights with the Rubies, Jasper and especially Bismuth played in his mind as he remembered the instances where the attacks landed and how his body was in so much pain afterward.

Pearl had said these were his battle instincts that were slowly but surely developing as he gained more experience. She said he should trust them, as most of the time they predicted when something dangerous was about to happen.

And right now, those immature instincts were roaring at Steven to move.

"Amethyst something's not-." He never finished as he saw something move through the air. It was something small and round, but he did not have enough time to examine the object before it flew past him. It collided with the building's wall a few feet to the right of him, a tiny clink sound echoing when it made contact.

And then his world was ravaged by fire.

* * *

Josuke thought he was an expert when it came to pain.

After suffering at the hands of so many different Stand users, after getting beaten down so many times in the past and forcing himself to stand while choking on blood, he figured he knew what pain was.

He was wrong. He was  _so_  wrong.

Every single time he moved, it felt like he was being stabbed in every part of his body. The wounds adorning his body made every breath he sucked in torture, his throat spasming with pain with every inhale. Every dodge and leap he made to avoid Let Me Live's attacks sent his muscles into a fiery agony, he was honestly surprised his legs were still connected to his body.

And every time his heart beat against his chest, it was a welcomed reminder that he was still alive, but also a horrible indication that he would have to endure more pain.

But it would be worth it once Crazy Diamond wrapped its muscular fingers around the black Killer Queen's neck.

To say this battle had been destructive was more than just an understatement. The streets had large craters in them, pillars of flames had begun to swallow the bottom parts of the buildings around him. Said apartments also had large and gaping holes in them, small infernos now scattered on the outside parts of the concrete homes. Debris off all forms laid in the streets, as more chunks of buildings fell onto the road. Josuke thought it was a miracle no one had come out yet to see what the hell was going on.

_**"Die..."** _

Two dozen feet away, black gas finished swirling in Let Me Live's palm before it threw two more orbs straight towards Josuke.

Gritting his teeth, Josuke had Crazy Diamonds punch the street, several wedges of black concrete exploded into the air as a large pile of dust was kicked up.

_**"DORA!"**_  Crazy Diamond launched a raid of punches at the blocks of concrete while they were still in midair flight, sending the hunks of earth careening towards the spheres of gaseous energy. They collided with the orbs and an explosion rocked the area. Plumes of fire erupted into the air as Josuke had to use Crazy Diamond to shield himself from the aggressive winds from the powerful detonation. A cloud of smoke obscured Let Me Live from sight.

_Damn it! Where the hell-!_  His thoughts were interrupted when another black orb burst through the smoke. Seeing how close it was, Josuke rolled out of the way just before it hit him, the orb crashing against another building far away from him as the explosion sent shockwaves through the streets. The high school student quickly got up, body roaring from its continued torment, and tried to find Let Me Live now that the smoke had cleared somewhat.

_**"Up here…"** _

Josuke eyes widened as he heard the distorted voice, his head whipping up to see black tendrils of gas swirling above him. The strands of the mist like gas soon took the shape of the black Killer Queen, in one of its palms the deadly spinning orb.

Just as Let Me Live pulled its arm back, Crazy Diamond ran its fingers along its master's bloody face, wet blood now dripping down its digits. Moving at speeds too fast to follow, Crazy Diamond raised its arm before bringing it down and slicing at the air in front of it. It moved so quickly that the blood on its fingers was launched off its appendages, compressing and taking the form of a red crescent-shaped blade that headed straight for Let Me Live.

The arc of blood moved at great speeds before slicing Let Me Live in half, cutting the gaseous sentry straight through its gut. Unfortunately for Josuke, the black Killer Queen had more than enough time to transform its stomach into its gas state. Wisps of black energy were already sewing Let Me Live back together as it chucked the orb down at Josuke.

_Shit!_  Thinking fast, Josuke remembered there were still bits of concrete lodged in his back from one of Let Me Live's earlier attacks. A bright yellow aura soon enveloped the Stand User and Crazy Diamond as their bodies were lifted off their feet and sent flying backward. The orb crashed against the spot Josuke had once stood on, the explosion that followed decimated the road as another silent fireball detonated into the night. Josuke and Crazy Diamond had thankfully gotten out of the explosion's range, the pompadour teen slowly descending towards a large crater as the concrete lodged in his back flew from his body and back to its home.

Once his feet were on the ground, Josuke coughed up blood, thick patches of the red liquid escaping his mouth as he did not stop gasping for several seconds. His vision flickered with black spots as he struggled to get up, using Crazy Diamond for support as he shifted all his weight onto his right leg.

_Fuck, it's getting harder to stay conscious._  He thought as Let Me live slowly approached Josuke.

_**"It looks like…you're at your limit…"**_ The black Killer Queen let out a chuckle that sounded like nails scratching on glass. _ **"I never thought I see the day…when Josuke Higashikata ran out of stamina…"**_

"I've still got plenty of juice left in me to kick your ass!" Josue shouted back, his voice burning with fury. But as much as he hated to admit it, he knew that was a lie. The power inside him was almost gone, and the strain of keeping Crazy Diamond in reality was growing by the minute.

But he would not give up now.

_**"Even you must know how false that statement is… I can see you're struggling to stay conscious….and soon, you shall fall, and I will never again have to worry… about another Stand User ever again."** _

Josuke's eyes glared daggers at the new Killer Queen; his expression held nothing but animosity. All he needed was one chance. One moment to unload every bit of power still left inside him, and storm Let Me Live with a volley of Crazy Diamond fists. All he needed was one moment to catch it off guard, and this fight would be over.

He just needed a plan to do so.

**_"And It seems like you have yet to realize…that you have already lost…"_** The gaseous version of Killer Queen looked around the fiery streets and buildings. **_"You haven't realized Let Me Live's final ability…and because of that you have lost."_**

"And what the hell is its last power?" Josuke's voice showed no emotions, but he did feel a small amount of worry as he wondered what Let Me Live was about to do.

**_"Let Me Live's has spheres that explode on contact… But that's not the only thing they can do…"_** Let Me Live's body slowly dissolved into black strands of gas, the wisps of blackness moving further down the streets and away from Josuke.

_What the hell is this thing planning?_  Josuke thought as the tendrils soon began to reform about hundred feet away from the young Stand user. Once the black strands finished whirling into the body of Let Me Live, it spoke again.

_**"Wherever those bombs detonate, they leave behind… particles…"**  _Let Me Live curled its hand into a fist.  _ **"These particles are rather special…. Because Let Me Live has the power…"**_  The black Killer Queen brought its thumb up.

_**"To ignite them..."** _

It brought its thumb down to its hand.

And a crater located about two dozen feet to Josuke's right erupted into a silent explosion. Josuke's head whipped towards the dent in the ground as plumes of fire erupted upwards into the air, and he could feel the heat from where he was standing.

And his stomach seemed to sink into a pond of ice cold water. His eyes widened in horror as he slowly looked around the battlefield. They zoomed in on every hole Let Me Live had made into the surrounding buildings and every crater scattered about the road.

Let Me Live had turned this entire area into a minefield, and he realized this far too late.

_**"Since Let Me Live has left so many particles behind… It cannot control where the next explosion will occur…but it does not matte**_ r…"

It slowly raised his thumb, and Josuke knew he had to move now.

_**"Because this is the end for you…. Josuke!"**  _And the sentient bomb brought its thumb down.

Josuke reacted without a thought.

"Crazy Diamond!" Without giving another word, the bubblegum pink Stand ran with its master around its shoulder before slamming its leg hard against the road. Both Josuke and Crazy Diamond were sent hurling through the air as a large explosion detonated a short distance behind them. Josuke's back was singed and he bit his tongue to prevent himself from screaming as both he and Crazy Diamond flew through the air.

Let Me Live brought its thumb down to its hand again.

They landed on a street curb, both Crazy Diamond and Josuke rolling before quickly getting up as Jouske ignored the fiery pain coursing through him. And right as they landed, the top portion of the building right next to Josuke blew up in a large inferno. Boulders of debris covered in flames came down to the Stand user, traveling so fast Josuke did not have the time to dodge.

"Damn it!" He shouted before Crazy Diamond moved in a burst of speed and floated towards the boulders just as they were inches away from its master.

_**"DORARARARARA!"**_  It punched all the boulders within seconds, striking with a barrage of insanely fast crosses and monstrous haymakers. The chunks of debris broke into hundreds of pieces, no longer a threat to Josuke, but the pebbles did pelt his skin which stung slightly.

Glancing around, the purple haired teen saw there were the remnants of a car door located a few feet away from him, and he also saw more destroyed car parts located near Let Me Live.

Not wasting another moment, Crazy Diamond flew towards the car door and grabbed it before returning to Josuke. A bright yellow aura surrounded the door as the Stand wrapped its master's arms around its neck before the door went flying through the air at break-neck speeds towards the black Killer Queen, taking both of them along with it.

In response to this, Let Me Live brought its thumb down. Over and over again with no signs of stopping.

Explosion after explosion wrecked the streets, massive plumes of fire sprouted from craters and buildings as chunks of concrete were sent flying through the air. It was like Josuke was being bombed by fighter jets, several times he made Crazy Diamond shift the door he was riding out of the way from flaming debris almost crushing him. The silent explosions continued to erupt in scorching blasts of red and orange, some dangerously close to Josuke as he could feel his skin get burnt more than once as he continued to soar through the air. Another explosion erupted from a crater a dozen feet in front of his path, the young Stand User traveling through the plume of heat as he saw he was quickly approaching Let Me Live.

_**"When you get to hell.."** _

He ignored the words that came out of Let Me Live's mouth, focusing on avoiding the growing amount of explosions and debris attacking him. More craters and buildings were swallowed by flames, the streets now looked like a scene from a war zone.

_**"Tell your friends…"** _

_Almost there!_  Josuke thought as he moved to the left to dodge another explosion. Let Me Live was only twenty feet away now, and he felt his anger triple as he got closer. He just needed to get close and make sure Let Me Live couldn't transform into its gas state and then-

Josuke never finished that thought.

For right underneath him, an explosion burst into existence. And because it did not make a sound, he could hear the distorted voice of Let Me Live clearly.

_**"Kira sent you…"** _

A pain unlike any he had ever felt before burned his nerves. He could not scream, he could not even move, all he could do was endure as his body was consumed by raging flames. Though in the next second, Josuke did not feel anything.

His vision had gone completely black.

* * *

It watched as the fool's body was launched by the explosion, the door he had held onto flying through the air as the yellow aura disappeared. The fool was sent careening towards a shop of some kind as he crashed through the windows.

Let Me Live was embodied with parts of its masters' will, so it could talk just like Kira Yoshikage. It could also think like the serial killer, able to conceive plans and actions as if Kira was the one giving them. And it could even feel the same emotions that Kira Yoshikage would feel in any situation, though it would never show on its emotionless face.

So seeing Josuke Higashikata being blasted away by one its bigger explosions sent the most sadistic form of satisfaction spiraling through its body.

It would have smiled if it could.

Focusing its power, Let Me Live's body slowly turned into thick tendrils of black gas. The gas born from its energy slithered through the air, traveling through the haze of fire and smoke that covered the streets before reaching the broken windows. The wisps of black vapor whirled in front of the store, once again taking the shape of the dark Killer Queen.

Looking through the broken glass, he noticed the store was some form of small grocery store, and on the floor it saw the man who had given its master so much trouble.

And seeing Josuke Higashikata made Let Me Live chuckle.

The man who had given its master so much trouble had crashed into a stand of assorted snacks, his body splayed awkwardly atop the dirty floor. Blood was pooling around his body, a thick puddle of red liquid already forming on the floor that only grew with each passing second. The fool's outfit was drenched in his own blood, his uniform was singed and torn and its dark purple color scheme was unrecognizable under the blood. Bits of his face along with the skin that Let Me Live could see was horribly burned, deep red marks adoring the Stand users body as Let Me Live could see the bloody flesh underneath the burn marks.

Let Me Live had the additional ability to "see" a person's body temperature, able to track down anyone by the heat flowing through their veins. A person's body heat looked like a bright orange light resting within a person's body, but in Higashiakta's case the light was almost gone. Through its eyes, it could see that the Master of Crazy Diamond's heart had stopped pumping blood, causing his body to grow colder by the second.

But the thing that stood out the most to Let Me Live was Higashikata's eyes. Eyes that once held a red-hot determination, eyes that held an unwavering will to fight, eyes that shined with righteousness and passion…were now as lifeless as Let Me Live's own eyes.

Hollow blue eyes stared at the roof of the store, never blinking or showing that same fire its master had seen so many times before.

There was no mistake.

Josuke Higashikata was dead.

And that one thought made it chuckle yet again. It continued to let out deep, horribly malicious and sinister laughs that were never quite loud, but they still echoed throughout the deserted store. Its distorted chortles showed the demon lurking in its mind.

_**"You have no idea how long… I have waited for this moment…"**_  Let Me Live jumped through the broken window. " _ **To see you lying on the ground as nothing more than a corpse… I have dreamt of all the things I would do; all the things I would say to your lifeless husk…"**_

Let Me Live slowly walked towards the fallen Stand User. Once it arrived at Josuke's body, it towered over the corpse of Higashikata before extending its arm towards the dead teen.

_**"But now that the moment is here…I see now that there is nothing left to be said…Your pathetic existence isn't even worth…wasting another breath on…"** _

It grabbed Josuke by the side of his jacket, lifting him up with ease as his head jerked forwards. His eyes, shadowed by his burned and ridiculous hair, were now gazing at the floor covered with his blood as Let Me Live looked at the corpse.

" _ **But I will admit…you have been the biggest nuisance I have ever encountered… Including you're dead friends….and everyone I have ever blown up…"**_

It let loose another low chuckle, as it pulled its remaining arm back. It hand was flat, gloved fingers stretched to their fullest as they now looked like dark black knives. Its master would want the teenager's corpse to be completely maimed, making it unrecognizable to anyone as to what the dead body had once looked like. An explosion would not do; it would lack the satisfying feeling of personally mutilating the bastard who had given its master hell.

_**"So know this, Josuke Higashiakta…You were my greatest enemy…and my most enjoyable kill to date…"** _

It threw its arm forward, aiming to plunge its fingers right through the Josuke Highashikata's jugular.

* * *

Steven barely had enough time to react.

Just as the flames were about to engulf him and Amethyst, Steven had immediately focused all his thoughts on his shield, needing it now more than ever to protect himself and Amethyst. In almost an instant, his shield had tripled in size, the magenta weapon now stretched all the way to the walls of the alley. The flames had just missed Steven and Amethyst, the large shield protecting the two gems from the scorching wisps of fire.

It did not, however, protect them from the shockwaves.

The power and force from the explosion had been enough to send Steven and Amethyst flying. Amethyst vanished from his sight as he saw her land somewhere far out on the beach behind him. Steven continued to careen through the air, his shield fading from existence as he crashed into a wooden bench. Splinters of wood were sent twirling into the air as his head was lit up with intense pain.

_Okay, that really hurts,_  he thought as he groaned. He placed a hand on his forehead and massaged it to try and relieve the pain in his head. His vision was cloudy, but he could make out three shadowy shapes, one big, one small, and a fluffy shape, standing over him.

He could hear the shapes saying something, but he could only make out bits and pieces of their words through his headache. Eventually, his vision cleared and he realized the shapes were Sour Cream, Lion and Onion.

"Steven, dude, are you alright!" He was finally able to hear Sour Cream's voice, and immediately recognized the worry rapidly growing in his words; right next to Sour Cream, Onion had been shaking him in an attempt to snap him out of his daze. Lion was gently nudging its head under Steven's neck in order to support the Gem into a sitting position.

"I'm fine guys," Steven said with a groan, slowly getting up.

"That's great," Sour Cream smiled, but it was short-lived as a very panic-stricken expression crossed his face. "But Fish Stew Pizza's on fire!"

"What!?" Steven shouted, his eyes widening with horror. He looked past Sour Cream and Onion and saw that Fish Stew Pizza was in fact a blaze. Plumes of fire were surrounding the building, the columns of flames only growing with each second. Right next to it, Beach City Fries had also been caught in the explosion, but somehow there were only small pillars of flames licking the side of the building.

And it was then Steven remembered Kofi, the owner of the restaurant, had decided to extend the work hours for his beloved store.

"Oh my gosh, is anyone still in there!" Steven shouted as he turned to Onion and Sour Cream.

_Please say no, please say no, please say no, PLEASE SAY NO!_

"Kofi and Kiki got caught up in that blast bro!" Sour cream shouted, fear consuming his every word.

Steven felt his breath hitch in his throat and his heartbeat slowing down as he stared at the flaming pizza restaurant. Kiki and Kofi were still in their… they were hurt, and if someone didn't do something they might-

No.

He was a Gem, and he would save them!

A determination unlike any Steven had felt before entered his body as his eyes narrowed. Without wasting another moment, he broke away from the group and ran straight towards the burning building.

"Steven!" He heard Sour Cream shout behind him.

"Find Amethyst! Make sure she's not hurt!" He shouted, not even turning around to face them as he reached the entrance of Fish Stew Pizza. Steven could see the flames inside swallowing up the chairs and tables as his rose quartz Gem glowed bright magenta; from within the light, his shield appeared as he placed it on his forearm and then held the shield out in front of him before charging into the building.

The heat that assaulted him when he entered might have been just as scorching as the lava in Bismuth's forge. Pitch black smoke whirled inside the flaming building, making it very hard to see even a foot in front of him. When Steven burst through the door, his shield was able to protect most of his body from the fire, but wisps of flames still burned his back as well as his clothes.

"Hot, hot, hot, hot, hot!" Steven shouted, his head whipping in every direction in an attempt to find his two friends. The flames only grew with each moment he searched, sweat dripping down his forehead as he heard the sound creaking wood above him. Looking up, he saw one of the wooden rafters above him cracking, right before it split in half and fell right towards Steven.

Reacting quickly, Steven brought his shield up above his head. The rafter collided with his weapon, the moment it made contact with his shield it shattered into mini blocks of wood.

"Kiki! Kofi! Where are you!" He shouted, trying to clear away the smoke in front of him as he let out tiny coughs. And suddenly, Steven heard a tiny groan of pain through the crackling flames and rushed towards the area he thought it came from.

Pushing aside more fallen rafters and several burnt tables with his shield, Steven had found his friends. Both Kofi and Kiki were trapped under small chunks of concrete, most likely from the ceiling and it was obvious they had been knocked out. Quickly lifting the debris of his friends with ease, Steven saw that their bodies were burnt and bleeding, but how badly he could not tell through all the smog.

"Don't worry guys, I'll heal you right up as soon as we get out of here." Steven said, carefully placing both Kiki and Kofi's arms around his neck. He couldn't risk valuable time on healing them, especially when the flames were spreading and swallowing more and more of the store.

Suddenly, he heard a low growl and saw Lion had somehow sneaked behind him. The tips of its mane had small embers on it, but otherwise, he was fine. It lowered its head so that its eyes were eye level with Steven's, nudging its head towards Kofi and Kiki and then to its back.

"I owe you one buddy," Steven said with a small smile, instantly getting what his guardian pet wanted him to do. He placed Kiki and Kofi's unconscious forms on Lion's back before quickly hopping onto the pink animal's back as well. The moment he had secured himself and his two passengers, he gave Lion one order.

"Let's get out of here!" He shouted, and Lion took off like a bolt of pink lightning. The animal guardian leapt through the flames before running towards the door. The door flew open the moment Lion made contact as the two humans, Gem, and animal landed a short distance away from the burning building onto the boardwalk.

Not wasting another second, Steven pulled Kofi and Kiki off Lion's back and placed them down gently on the wooden path. Now that they were out of the burning building, Steven could see that Kiki and Kofi had deep red burns on their faces and arms, both of their clothes ripped and burned. Blood dripped from fresh gashes scattered about their bodies, and he noticed that one of Kiki's arms was bent at a funny angle.

Seeing his friends so injured made him nauseous. It was hard to believe that the two people he knew with the most energy and excitement were reduced to such states.

"Healing powers, don't fail me now." He muttered, pushing aside his nausea as he licked both his hands. Seeing he had enough spit on both hands, he immediately touched the center of Kiki and Kofi's faces with his palms.

The effect was almost instant, Kofi and Kiki's skin instantly weaving back together over their wounds. Soon the gashes were completely sewed up, with the only traces of them having been there tiny cuts that were barely visible. The bruises faded, Kiki's arm was set back into place, and their burns went from bright red and large to small and light pink.

They weren't completely healed, but now their injuries were far less severe than before. Steven let out a sigh of relief as he wiped the sweat forming on his brow.

"Steven!" Turning around, Steven saw Amethyst running towards him with Onion and Sour Cream nowhere in sight. She was the first to reach him, quickly grabbing both his arms as she looked him over. "Are you okay!?" She then looked down at Kofi and Kiki. "Are they okay!?"

"Yeah, I'm good Amethyst," Steven replied. "And Kofi and Kiki are too. They got hurt, but I was able to heal them with my powers."

"I'm so sorry little man, I should have been there helping you." She said, her expression becoming regretful. "You shouldn't have been in there alone. I should have known something like this was gonna happen and not walked down that-"

"Amethyst, you're starting to sound like Pearl." Steven interrupted, and the moment those words left his lips, Amethyst stopped dead in her tracks as her cheeks turned a darker shade of purple. He let out a little chuckle, knowing that she both hated and became embarrassed whenever she acted like the Pearl.

"Neither of us knew this would happen, and like I said, I'm fine." He gave her a big smile that he had been told was both cute and reassuring. "I had it covered, and it wasn't like I was alone, I had Lion." Said lion gave a short affirmative roar. "I was…a little scared but I still got Kofi and Kiki out of the building." He then put his hand on her shoulder as his lips turned into a thin frown. "So don't blame yourself, there was no way you could have known a gigantic explosion was gonna send us flying."

Amethyst looked from Steven to Lion, and then to the two humans on the floor. She didn't say anything for several seconds, and then a big smile grew on her lips and she hugged Steven. Steven was glad he was able to stop Amethyst from beating herself up again. She didn't deserve that.

"You know, you're getting really amazing at this whole saving people deal." She said, and Steven let those words sink in. He had to admit, saving Kofi and Keki had to prove he had made improvements. So the doubts and dread he had been feeling all day long about his ability as a fighter had been wrong. Saving these his friends lives had to show that he was a skilled Crystal Gem.

_You saved these two, but what about the next guys who get caught up in danger._

Bismuth's voice again, but this time Steven was able to not let her words have such a bad effect on his emotions. His confidence had greatly improved in the span of a few minutes, and nothing was going to ruin it. The most he felt was a slight rise in doubt but he pushed those feelings to the side.

Right now, he was just gonna enjoy Amethyst's hug.

"Thanks, Amethyst." He hugged her back, and the purple Gem let out a big laugh.

"Pearl's gonna flip when I tell her you went into a burning building by yourself." She said, and it was then Steven heard more footsteps coming from behind him. Turning around, he saw Onion and Sour Cream quickly approaching him.

"Steven, Amethyst, are you guys alright!? Are Kiki and Kofi hurt!?" Sour Cream shouted as he joined the two Gems.

"Yeah, we're fine Sour Cream." He then looked down towards Kiki and Kofi. "And they got a little hurt, but I was able to help them out before things got too serious."

"That's the best news I've heard all day." Sour Cream said, giving a big relieved grin to the two Gems. However, Onion began to pat on his pants, the older teen crouching down as Onion whispered something into his ear. "Oh, right."

"What's wrong?" Amethyst asked.

"It's just, Onion said we still have no idea where out mom went." At the reminder of Vidalia, Steven and Amethyst eyes widened slightly as they remembered why they came out here in the first place.

"Oh, yeah," Steven stared at the boardwalk, sadness growing in his eyes. They still had yet to find Vidalia, and it was clear their only lead had just disappeared.

"Darn it!" Amethyst muttered bitterly, her expression now dejected. Steven could see a touch of anger in her eyes as she frowned

"And also… What the heck caused that explosion?" Sour Cream asked, and that was a very good question. Both Steven and Amethyst looked at each other with raised brows, as it was clear that wasn't a normal explosion, there was no way Kofi had anything in his pizza store that could cause such a massive blast. The only answer that made sense to Steven was that it was some kind of Corrupted Gem. And this left Steven wondering what kind of Gem monster could make explosions out of thin air?

"I have no idea," Steven answered honestly.

"Well, whatever caused this obviously just tried to wipe us out." Amethyst said before turning to the still burning pizza shop. Her eyes narrowed as her voice gained a sharp edge to it. "And now it just made things personal."

Steven began to hear sirens in the distance, most likely from the fire department. Whatever did this was still out there, and it was probably the same thing that had kidnapped Vidalia.

There was the familiar feeling of fear building up inside Steven's chest, for just a moment his mind flashed back to his fight with Bismuth, but this time those thoughts and feelings were overshadowed not by confidence, but by a burning resolve that had settled into Steven's heart.

He was going to find whatever did this to his friends and the citizens of Beach City, and he and the Gems were going to stop it.

* * *

Let Me Live's fingers were inches away from stabbing into Josuke's throat. But just as they were about to reach the young Stand User, Crazy Diamond materialized into existence right beside its master, the air glimmering pink.

_**"DORA!"**_  The muscular Stand flew towards Let Me Live, spinning in midair before launching a right hook that plowed right into the side of the Black Killer Queen's face. Cracks formed on Let Me Lives head before a fountain of blood erupted into the air. The gaseous sentry was sent careening to the side, crashing into an aisle of assorted food before landing face first on the ground.

_**"What!?"**_  Let Me Live shouted, shakily rising to its feet as it turned and glared at the pink Stand.  _ **"Crazy Diamond…how are you-."**_

"I'm pretty sure I already told you this before," a shaky and hoarse sounding voice interrupted the walking bomb. Let Me Live looked towards the side, and what it saw made its eyes widened.

For leaning against the wall next to the broken windows was the bloody and horribly burned form of Josuke Higashikata. One hand was placed under the side of his chin while the other hand was stuffed in his now blackened jacket pocket; his left leg wrapped around his right ankle even with a fiery pain shooting up his body from just standing. And even though blood dripped down his body like a waterfall, even though his clothes and skin had been shredded and set on fire, his eyes still gleamed with determination. A determination of a man who would stop at nothing to defeat the monster who had hurt so many without a thought or care.

His eyes held a conviction only Josuke Higashikata had.

"But I ain't dying until I give you the ass-kicking you deserve." He finished, spitting a thick dribble of blood onto the floor.

_**"How are you alive!**_ " Let Me live screamed in its warped voice.  _ **"I saw your heart had stopped pumping blood…I saw your body growing as cold as a corpse** **!"**_

"As I thought, you can sense a person's body temperature, just like Sheer Heart Attack." Josuke began, his eyes narrowing at the cracking form of Let Me Live. "How else could you have known I was on that bus? You recognized my body heat and attacked just like that."

_**"DORA!"**  _Crazy Diamond once again rushed Let Me Live, this time striking with a swift and furious kick to the black Killer Queens sides, sending it flying through the air before its body crashed against the wall, now only a few feet to the right of Josuke. Josuke spared Let Me Live a sideways glance as he stretched his neck.

"You really messed up my body with that last attack, even now it's taking everything I got to keep Crazy Diamond in existence." He nudged his head toward his Stand, who crossed its arm as it floated near its master. Let Me Live was bleeding heavily, the crack spreading across his body and growing. Even though he was incredibly injured, Josuke's attacks were only growing in strength not diminishing as he poured every ounce of energy left inside him to his Stand.

"So I knew this was my last chance to win, and I needed to get the drop on you; otherwise, you just turn into the gas state. But since I knew you could sense body heat, how do I overcome that? The answer was simple."

Josuke took out the hand in his pocket, ignoring how heavy and hard it was to move the appendage, and pointed at his heart.

"I just stopped my own heart."

For one moment, Let Me Live's expression no longer held its usual stoic features, but instead, its face was the textbook definition of shock.

_**"WHAT!?"** _

Josuke would remember that expression for the rest of his life. He gave Let Me Live the biggest shit eating grin he could muster, even though smiling was rather painful in his current state.

"You heard me, motherfucker."

Yes, beyond a shadow of a doubt stopping his own heart with his Stand was the craziest and most reckless plan he had ever thought of. But as he was bleeding on the floor, as his entire body screamed at him to just stop and accept his loss if only to rest, he realized that he was not willing to die to the murderer known as Kira Yoshikage anytime soon. He remembered all his friends and the innocent people the monster had killed, and all his friends and family who were waiting for him in Morioh. With those thoughts in mind, he knew he had to survive this fight. So pushing past the haze growing in his mind, pushing past pain that should have killed him ten times over, he summoned every ounce of will left in him in order to stay alive.

And then he formulated a plan in his diminishing consciousness. He called upon the power inside him, somehow still not gone yet, and summoned Crazy Diamond's arm. The limb of his Stand overlapped with his own and slowly the arm moved from its position and phased right through his chest. Praying to every God imaginable, Josuke had Crazy Diamond grab his heart, the beats of his organ almost instantly slowed down until finally, they stopped.

And then he could feel his mind drifting to a state that was eerily similar to sleep, and felt the pain slowly fading from his body. He senses began to numb, his vision started to go black once again as his breathing all but stopped. The energy that was still inside him began to vanish, like the last embers of a once bright fire. For a few indescribable moments, He could barely even remember what he was doing or who he even was. But just as his vision was about to go completely black, he saw something pick him up. He could not make out what exactly picked him up, but he did see one thing about the unknown entity lifting him up.

He saw two cold pink eyes glaring at him.

And that was enough to send a raging inferno through his body. A primal fury ran through his very soul as he remembered what that face meant to Josuke.

It was the face of the man who needed to get the ever-loving shit kicked out of him.

He used what little willpower was still left in his soul and within his body he called upon Crazy Diamond's arm, his vision almost completely black by now and his life seemed to be snatched away by death itself. He then had the phantom limb slam a gauntlet-covered fist into his heart.

The blackness cleared away in an instant, his eyes shot open as his heart began to make up for lost time. The energy that was all but gone a moment before seemed to be restored as Josuke felt a new ocean of power rippling inside him. Whether he really did have that much energy left to burn or if he was delirious from all the blood loss did not matter as Josuke still summoned Crazy Diamond had had it punch that smug-ass Stand right in the face.

_Yeah, I'm never doing something that asinine ever again._  He thought, his eyes not looking away from the black Killer Queens crouched form.

" _ **You truly are… The most unpredictable Stand User in existence…"**  _Let Me Live chuckled, the right side of its face now had a thick stream of blood running down to its neck. From the way its body was shaking, Josuke could tell that his last two hits had done a number on the sentient bomb, most likely rendering it unable to turn into its gas state. " _ **But even though you beat Let Me Live… Don't think this is all I am now capable of… I have evolved, and if by some miracle you make it to Beach City…then you shall suffer the most painful death imaginable…"**_

Josuke did not say a word throughout Let Me Live's speech, simply listening as he pushed off the wall and walked over to the bomb sentry still on the ground.

It would be cruel to not listen to someone's last words.

"You know, I'm almost thankful you attacked me." Josuke started, Crazy Diamond walking right next to its master. He did not limp, even though it sent nerve burning pain throughout his body, he walked as if his left leg wasn't completely shattered. "See, ever since I've got to this dimension, my experiences here have been rather shitty. Finding out you can't go home, that you somehow traveled to a world a lot like your own except not, and that the murderer you thought you killed is still up to his old tricks has been a  _little_  stress-inducing."

He stood tall and proud over Let Me Live.

"I've been progressively getting madder and madder with each God damn minute I've been here." An all-consuming fury entered Josuke's eyes. "And lately it's been building up, to the point where I'm having trouble thinking straight, and sometimes I've even imagined just letting it all out on some poor sap who looked at me funny."

A purple aura once again came to life around Josuke.

"Now, that shit can't possibly be healthy, so I've been trying to figure out some way to let out all this anger without hurting anyone who doesn't' deserve it. But unfortunately, I couldn't come up with any methods. That is of course…until you showed up."

A savage smile crossed Josuke's face, Crazy Diamond smirked as the Stand User's expression now coursed with predatory glee. Let Me Live's expression was still emotionless, but he could see the tiniest undertone of fear beneath its pink eyes.

"So for volunteering to help me with my anger issues, I just want to say from the bottom of my heart..."

He cracked his knuckles.

**"Thank You."**

And Crazy Diamond became a hurricane of power.

_**"DORARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARA!"** _

With such swiftness that no one could follow, Crazy Diamond unleashed hell. Fist attacked every inch of Let Me Live's body, deep cracks now ran through its skin as bright red blood was launched in every direction. Crazy Diamond's punches only became stronger, with each hit that landed a sound that was similar to boulders being crushed echoed throughout the store. His Stand began to move faster, its arms pink and silver comets as they continued to smash every bit of strength it had right into Let Me Live's body.

**_"DORA!"_ **

In the midst of its barrage, Crazy Diamond threw an unbelievably fast uppercut. The punch landed right under Let Me Live's chin as the black Killer Queen was sent flying upwards. The Stand hit the ceiling with such force the entire foundation shook before ricocheting right back towards Crazy Diamond.

**_"DORA!"_ **

Crazy Diamond gave Let Me Live another blindingly fast uppercut, the wind swirling around its fist like a miniature typhoon as the Stand hit the gaseous bomb right on the side of its face just as it came within range. An entire patch of black skin was sent flying through the air as Let Me Live face exploded in blood, and the black Killer Queen was sent careening right back to the ceiling.

"This is just a preview of what's to come, KIRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" The fury coursing throughout each word Josuke screamed was far hotter than any explosion Let Me Live had pelted him with.

Let Me Live once again crashed into the ceiling, the roof breaking into a thousand pieces of concrete and bricks as the building shook like an earthquake had passed through the area.

And Let Me Live was sent ricocheting off the remains of the roof right back towards Josuke and Crazy Diamond.

**_"DORARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARAR_ ** **_ARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARRARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARA!""_ **

Crazy Diamond arms seemed to multiply with each second, raining down punches at speeds that would put fighter jets to shame. Each fist made the walking bomb erupt in blood, every part of its body was now covered in cracks as large dents formed on its skin. Every single jab hit with strength that would shatter entire buildings, and every single cross grew stronger the more Crazy Diamond continued its never-ending storm of attacks. Crazy Diamond's heavy and destructive haymakers and hooks were moving at sonic speeds, the force from each blow that landed caused large gales of winds to sweep through the store. The Stand looked like an absolute demon with its victim's blood covering every inch of its body, shouting its battle cry at the top of its lungs.

**_"DORA!"_ **

Pulling its arm back for one last punch, Josuke channeled every scrap of fighting spirit still left in him to Crazy Diamond. And the pink-skinned warrior launched what had to be the fastest cross known to man and Stand as a sonic boom erupted from the velocity of its fist. The punch landed right in the center of Let Me Live's face as the black bomb was sent careening. It spiraled through the air before destroying the wall of the store and continued to fly, until it crashed through the wall of another building.

Josuke saw through the hole he had just created that the black Killer Queen was slowly dissolving. Not to gas, but to dust as the gaseous sentry turned into a thick, ash-like substance. Eventually, Killer Queen: Let Me Live was nothing more than fine black powder.

"You're turns coming up soon, Kira." Josuke said as his Stand faded from existence. He walked towards the exit of the store, going outside and back into the flame ridden streets. He took in a breath of the smoke that came from the pillars of flames scattered throughout the road.

_I...I have to get patched up, or else there's a good chance I…might…_

Before he could finish that thought, Josuke finally lost the battle against his exhaustion and collapsed onto the ground. His vision faded to blackness yet again as the last thing he felt before unconsciousness took him were his own heartbeats slowing down.

**[Killer Queen: Let Me Live]**

**[The Fourth Bomb]**

**[Status: Retired]**

* * *

Another fire truck passed him, the wind blowing from behind the speeding vehicle and brushing against Kira's face.

_This town's response time's to fire is a bit shabby._  It had been at least six minutes since he blew up that store, and it was only just now he saw any signs of help approaching the boardwalk. Even someone like him could tell they needed to work on their speed.

"It's a shame I had to get rid of my companion so fast," he said, walking to a nearby garbage can and discarding the remains of his food into a trash bin. "Though, it's not like I can't get another one."

He wondered if the boy and the purple woman had lived through his explosion. He had a feeling they would, since he had learned through experience that self-righteous idiots are surprisingly durable.

"Which is all the better, because right now if those people are kept alive, I will not have to worry about anyone trying to fight me for a while." The serial killer said as he continued to walk along the near-empty streets of Beach City and back towards his house. He should probably think about buying a car sooner or later, since walking about two hours from the town back to his home was rather tedious.

And it was at this moment Kira was overcome with a sudden dizziness, a pain ringing throughout his head. He placed a palm on his temples to try and alleviate some of his pain, but the nausea-inducing sensation only seemed to grow.

And then, blood sprouted from his right hand and into the night air. Deep and long gashes sliced into his hand, the cuts causing blood to drip from his palm onto the curb he was walking on.

"Ow," Kira said, gritting his teeth as he brought his palm closer to his eyes.

"Josuke was not holding back anything against Let Me Live I see," he said as the memories of the sentry version of Killer Queen flooded his head. In his mind, he could see Josuke, his eyes flooded with a bottomless determination and a blazing fury.

Seeing that face always made anger rise in his chest.

"He's in New Jersey right now," Kira muttered, as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a napkin. He slowly wrapped it around his hand to make a bandage. He would have to properly treat it when he got home, but for now, the napkin would do.

"If he traveled non-stop from New Jersey to here, he might get here in about two weeks. But since he's now gravely injured, he'll have to rest." If Kira had to guess, he'd say he had at least somewhere between three to four weeks before Josuke actually got here.

_That is of course, if he can survive my other trap._

He looked down towards his left hand, and grinned before he continued to walk.

"Right now, I have to be a bit more careful than usual." He said to himself, "Josuke's is one thing, but I do not want to have to fight a bunch of weak aliens. I can practically feel the irritation of having to fight not only a Stand User, but a child with 'magical' abilities."

Still, it would be best to prepare for the worst-case scenario. Perhaps come up with ways to quickly deal with any annoyance that tries to end him. His new abilities could easily kill them in one fell swoop, but he did not want to use them if he did not have too.

"Killer Queen should be able to handle anything that comes to us without having to use those specific powers." He said, as yet another fire truck passed him.

In his mind, he was already thinking of strategies and plans to deal with each and every possible opponent he might face. In his mind, he could hear the screams of every fool who dared to oppose him as he watched them swallowed by an explosion.

_I will be fine. No one can defeat me, not now…_

He saw a woman across the street from him. She was tall, white and had long blonde hair, and he could see no one else on the streets. His eyes looked towards her hands, beautiful, small hands that were some of the best Kira had ever seen. A smile that leaked cruelty spread throughout his face.

_Not when I have ascended._

_To Be Continued~_


	6. Those Who Fight the Monsters

The beach was rather enjoyable to Kira.

He wasn't wearing his usual blue business suit and pants, but instead wore a white linen shirt with brown linen pants; he also had on a pair of black sandals. The buttons that lined up his shirt were neatly fastened, but the muscles beneath his clothing were still evident.

He was sitting on top of a dark purple towel that rested on the hot sand of the coast. He did not sit near the water, opting to rest a good two dozen feet away and to stay closer inland than most. He preferred this location since most of the people on the beach were swimming in the ocean; there were only a few people setting up their own towels a long distance from Kira and the only interactions he had with anyone was with the occasional passerby waving at him as he waved back with a small smile.

It was not very sunny today, large clouds were suspended high in the air and partially blocking out the sun. It had been progressively getting cloudier as the day went on, and if Kira had to guess he was sure it would rain later, but he could be wrong.

In his hands was  _The Road_ , a novel by Cormac McCarthy, and he had just finished another page as he moved onto the next. Today he had decided to read his book out in the open sea, and seeing that the sky was getting cloudier by the hour, Kira had decided to go now rather than later while the sun was at least partially out.

_Reading next to the ocean is surprisingly pleasant_ , he thought as he felt the cool sea breeze brush against his skin and made the page corners of his book sway. The way he could smell the sea salt from the breeze, the sound of the waves cracking as they crashed against the shore, it was honestly quite relaxing as a small smile crossed his expression. He could now see why so many people enjoyed coming to a beach. It had a calming effect, able to ease one's mind away from any stress or irritation rising inside their bodies.

And he would be lying if he said he hadn't been feeling just the tiniest bit annoyed at how so many people were trying to ruin his tranquil life.

His thoughts went back to Josuke, and how Let Me Live failed to kill the troublesome Stand User. His eyes narrowed, and his expression now held a hint of annoyance.

It had been two weeks since he had gained Let Me Live's memories, and in that time the master of Crazy Diamond had yet to come to Beach City. This did not surprise Kira, as he already figured Josuke would need to rest after his fight with his mobile sentry version of Killer Queen. But the fact that Josuke as still alive and heading towards him for another fight greatly bothered him. Even though Josuke had seen first hand his new powers, the young Stand User was still determined to stop him from living his life. The fool still believed he could stop him.

Kira wondered how some people could be both incredibly brave and also astonishingly stupid. Josuke Higashikata seemed to walk that line perfectly, the teenager always fighting for his righteous beliefs even though he knew how outclassed he was.

Yet somehow, Josuke constantly managed to defeat him. Somehow, he had outsmarted so many Stand Users and had always come out on top. Somehow, this teen always defied the odds and made Kira's life so much more difficult than it had to be.

_But he won't beat me, not this time_ , Kira thought as he raised his arm. A dark purple aura surrounded the appendage as he slowly and periodically clenched his fist.  _If he lives through my other trap, I shall just kill him myself. It will no doubt cause me great stress, but at least after I finish him I shall never again have to worry about a teenager ruining my peace._

Yes, if Josuke were his only problem, he might not be feeling so exasperated. In his evolved state Josuke might be able to slightly harm him, but other than that the serial killer would easily annihilate the idiotic teenager.

The issue was that Josuke wasn't the only problem he had to deal with. He also had to think about what to do regarding a prepubescent child and the aliens he lived with.

Ever since he blew up that little pizzeria, he noticed the people seemed a little less cheery. If he had to guess, it was most likely because most of them knew the owners of that little shop, and hearing that they were caught up in a particularly nasty explosion probably frightened them. And if they knew what he was doing to certain people with delicate hands, their fears would probably smother them as the cruel and terrifying reality set into their hearts.

But luckily for those fools, they would never learn about what was happening in their city. He would make sure of that.

He had heard that the ones caught up in the blast ended up going to the hospital; he could not remember their names, but he was absolutely certain one of them had to do with a Hayao Miyazaki film in some way. He heard the only reasons they were in the hospital was because of internal bleeding.

And nothing else.

That was the one detail he made sure to etch into his mind. Killer Queen's explosions, whether big or small, could kill any normal person even slightly caught in the blast radius with a single motion of its thumb. Yet somehow two regular citizens had escaped relatively unharmed? No deep, boiling burn marks that would leave anyone wailing in pain? No scars that would forever remind them of a horrible and traumatizing night? No need for any family members to bury an empty coffin because their loved ones' bodies were now nothing more than dust?

It was good that they hadn't died, their deaths would only bring forth more trouble. But as a murderer who had honed his skills to perfection, he felt this was an insult to his pride.

He had thought back to that night, and remembered the events that followed after seeing the bright pink portal in the air. He knew for a fact that he hit the building the two were working in with Killer Queen's first bomb, and even if they had by some miracle avoided a majority of the detonation, they should still be far more injured then what they were now.

So that meant one thing. The chubby boy had somehow managed to save them.

He did not know every one of the Diamon-no, the Gem's powers, but he did know some things which he had written down in a small notebook in his home. He had asked several people in the town who were some form of acquaintance of the Gems, under the guise of him wanting to know more of the city and the people who lived here, and they had told him details about the aliens that might seem insignificant to others, but for him, was valuable information.

Even though most of the alien women's "friends" did not know everything about them, which was a trend he had begun to notice as he asked more people as it was clear they were more secretive than most realized, he did learn the basics of their abilities. They all had superhuman strength, especially the one known as "Garnet," had the ability to shapeshift their bodies at will, specifically the purple one he had seen on that night was the one that used that ability the most, and the one fact that seemed the most interesting was that each alien had weapons hidden in their foreheads. Apparently, they each carried a different and unique weapon tailored to their skill sets, and even the boy had one; a pink shield if he recalled correctly.

The other citizens of Beach City had also told him that Universe had the ability to heal seemingly any injury.

That little tidbit of information Kira had made sure to not forget, and when he had first heard about the survival of the two workers, he realized that the boy had to have healed them.

And it was at that moment he realized how big of a potential nuisance the child could be.

Kira had no idea what were the extents of the boy's healing abilities, but obviously if he could heal two people who were most likely severely injured to stable states, they must be rather powerful.

If he did have to fight that boy, he would have to make sure he killed him before he got a chance to use those abilities. Otherwise, he'd be in for a long and dragged out fight when he should have won within minutes.

And ever since that night, the "warriors" who protected this town for so long had begun a manhunt. It might not be noticeable to the regular idiots of this town, but to him, the alien women might as well had been waving pitchforks and torches. He had noticed the purple one wandering the boardwalk and the roads around it in seemingly random patterns at random times of the day, but it was clear to Kira she was patrolling the area in case whatever caused the explosion returned. He saw the one with the cube-shaped afro hopping from building to building at night, eyes hidden behind a visor as she scanned the neighboring streets and stores for anything out of the ordinary. And then there was the one with the sharp nose, who walked along several busy streets along with Universe, asking everyone they encountered if they had seen any "strange creatures" or witnessed anything "out of the ordinary."

The ironic part was the "creature" they were searching for had been right in front of them. While the Gems themselves never noticed him, he did in fact pass by them several times, always watching them try and find the elusive monster that had been hurting their town. It was clear to Kira now that they had realized something was happening to the people of this town, and now they were trying to stop it. But they never once even bothered to question him whenever he walked home with his groceries. They never spared him a glance, even when he was walking alone out in the night with a lovely companion in his pocket. They never noticed anything special about the blonde-haired man with a neat business suit.

And that was just the way he wanted it. Being seen as nothing but an average businessman was a technique he performed flawlessly, and it was good to know that these people, and aliens, never noticed the demon living beneath the surface of Kira Yoshikage.

But while they had yet to find any clues as to what exactly was hurting their town, they still searched for whatever was responsible.

Such adamancy to do good always angered Kira. Why did people have to be so hell-bent on ruining other people's lives just because they did something that was frowned upon by society's moral standards?

It was his life. And no one would tell him how to live it.

But no matter, they still had yet to actually come close to finding him

_If magical aliens can't find me, I must be doing a better job than I thought._  He was tempted to smirk, but his next thought stopped him from doing so.  _Josuke, on the other hand_ ,  _will probably find me with little to no problems._

And if he arrived in Beach City and learned about the protectors of this town, he would probably tell them what he was and then join them in an effort to take him down.

Good God, Kira was sure that if Josuke did "team up" with the Gems in order to fight him in some clichéd final battle, it would be the most troublesome outcome possible.

_Why does fate want me to get involved with futile battles against more fools?_  It was like he was destined to constantly get into battles he wanted no part of. But just because he might be forced to fight, did not mean he would lose. Not with his new powers, not with Killer Queen by his side.

He was worrying too much about this matter. He would come up with a plan to deal with Josuke should he arrive here. He would develop a strategy that would take care of the aliens and Stand user without having to exert his powers too much. He had plenty of time to come up with a tactic that would only require him to do a tiny amount of fighting, that way he would be spared the migraines.

So, for now, he would relax.

He would enjoy the beach, he would finish his novel, and then, he would go back home. He would not let another thought spoil his lovely day.

His eyes went back to his book. He found himself quickly engrossed with McCarthy's words, imagining the barren wasteland of the world in his mind.

But then something caught his eye.

He glanced away from his book, and he saw a woman walking along with her boyfriend a few dozen feet away from him. He did not notice any of the woman's physical features, except for her large yet delightful hands.

Immediately, he felt his urges rise to the surface. He felt the familiar whispers coming from the shadows that lurked within him. He found his lips unconsciously tugging into a small smile, and his hand clenched into a fist, fingernails digging into his palm in anticipation for what was to come.

But he put those desires to the side.

He wanted to finish his book, and the ocean only a short distance away from him made reading all the more pleasant. Killing that woman would no doubt be enjoyable, but he could kill her or anyone for that matter at any time he pleased. He could do it later or even tomorrow, it wasn't like there was anyone to stop him.

He was near invincible now.

So he pushed aside his more violent needs and instead focused on his book. The man and his boy had just encountered an elderly man walking along the apocalyptic streets.

* * *

He was back here again.

He was back in the snow. Alone. Walking on a desolate street and pitch black night.

And once again, Josuke Higashikata was freezing his ass off.

_Not this crap again._

Once again, the Stand User found himself in his high school uniform, but it was damaged in so many places that it barely resembled the once pristine clothing. His metallic emblems were cracked, pieces of them were now missing and his undershirt was torn and ripped in several places. And with the barrage of snow hitting him, his ruined clothing did little to nothing to help defend himself against the cold.

At first, he thought he was having another dream, that he was just experiencing another hallucination due to all the blood loss from his last fight.

But this time Josuke had a feeling this wasn't a dream.

Because unlike before, Josuke felt a scorching pain shoot up his spine. Unlike before, where his injuries had been healed, he now found himself bleeding profusely. His body was in a horrible agony as he found himself struggling to stand up. He felt the gashes adorning his body leaking blood, could feel the pain increasing with each breath he took as he tried not to lose consciousness. The subzero temperatures around him only made his condition even worse, his limbs trembling both from pain and the frigid air as his blood began to turn to red ice and stick to his body. Some of the blood dripping from his face got into his right eye, and he found it now impossible to open the pupil; his blood periodically dripped onto the snowy ground and turned the frozen water into a sick shade of red.

This was not a dream. Somehow he had been transported to some blizzard-ridden streets after beating Let Me Live. A barrage of questions flooded his mind, but right now he was shivering too much to answer any of them. He had to get to someplace warm, and fast.

So as his body continued to grow colder, he used his one useful eye in an attempt to see through the blizzard and darkness.

_How in the hell did I end up here again?_  He thought as he desperately tried to think of any attempts to stay warm. He reached inside himself, pulling on the power that rippled inside his soul as a purple aura shrouded his body. Maybe this time he could call upon his Stand; maybe this time he would be able to use Crazy Diamond to help him get out of whatever frozen hell this place was.

But like his last visit to this frozen wasteland, Crazy Diamond did not appear.

_Fuck,_  he thought, his vision slowly becoming blurry as he held out an arm in front of him in an attempt to block the snow from pelting his eyes and exposed blood.

Why the hell couldn't he summon Crazy Diamond? Why was it he could call upon the familiar purple color of his aura but not his Stand. Crazy Diamond was a part of his will, and so long as he was alive and had enough power left inside him, he should be able to call upon the pink-skinned warrior. It was incredibly disturbing not to be able to summon his Stand and left a hollowness inside Josuke, as without Crazy Diamond Josuke's soul might as well have been removed from within him.

He hated feeling so vulnerable.

_And how in the hell do I keep getting transported to the God damn Tundra!_  He thought that the first time he saw this place it was a dream, but the pain he was feeling right now screamed at him that he was wide awake. The agony he was feeling was all too familiar and all too real to be a dream, so that left him wondering what mysterious force kept bringing him here? And what were the images he saw last time, like the tornado and light from within the blizzard? And what the hell did they mean?

He did not have long to think, though, as the numbness spreading throughout his body made him realize he had to get the hell out of this storm now. It was getting colder, and if he did not get out of this weather soon, he knew he would not live for much longer.

It was even harder to move in the snow this time than before. His legs were as heavy, almost impossible to move as if all the bones in the limb were shattered; and considering the painful fight he had just been in, that might be the actual case. His arms were just as difficult to move, quivering from both the cold and the pain as he wanted to do nothing more but drop his limbs to his sides to stop this horrible torture. Each step made his breaths come out quicker, he found himself already out of breath after only moving a few feet as his heart began to hammer against his chest.

But he would not stop. Not now or ever.

Even though his body convulsed in nerve burning agony, even though it would be so easy to stop and let the frostbite slowly eating away at him finish him off, he would not die in this storm. He would cut off his own appendages, rip out his own eyeballs or even scalp his  _hair_  before he stopped.

He was not going to die until the bastard serial killer had gotten a face full of Crazy Diamond's punches. So if whatever kept bringing him here was trying to kill him, it would not succeed. His blood was as cold as the ice raining from above, but he would get out of here like before and continue to Beach City. He would find some form of shelter, heal his injuries and then find some way to the town where the demon of a man was hiding in.

He had to kill Kira Yoshikage. He had to avenge all the people who had died at the murderer's hands, both the victims from his world and this one. He had to get revenge for what that bastard did to his home and friends.

And it was with that thought he heard a voice amidst the raging whirlwind of frozen water.

_"Josuke."_

He stopped dead in his tracks. Suddenly the cold was the last thing on his mind as his breath hitched in his throat. The piercing and burning pain running rampant on his body was forgotten. His one unfrozen eye widened in disbelief as his mind went blank, unable to think for a moment. Even though he continued to bleed heavily, and a deep, frosty chill was rising inside his body, he pushed his own survival to the side as his head turned slowly from side to side in order to find that voice.

Because he recognized it.

"Shi…Shigechi?" Josuke said, voice barely audible as the storm seemed to grow stronger, the icy winds whirling around him. "Shigechi!" He screamed, and he prayed to whatever God was up there that he was not hearing things. "Shigechi! Are you out there!"

And then he heard the voice again.

_"Josuke."_

There was no mistaking it. The familiar nasally and almost completely congested voice was without a doubt Shingechi's.

"Shigechi!" He screamed, letting out a sneeze as he felt his blood drop in temperature. Damn it, he needed to get out of here quickly. But, the voice…if it really was Shigechi then he needed to find the small teen. "Shigechi! Is that really you!?" He shouted into the night as his eyes tried to see through the darkness and snow. The logical part of his mind told him that it couldn't be his friend, that Remi had seen him pass on after being blown up by Kira.

But another part, a desperate and insanely hopeful part, wanted it to be his friend. If Shigechi was alive, then knowing that his friend was still breathing would greatly ease Josuke's conscious. Knowing that Kira had failed to kill at least one of Morioh's innocent civilians despite every mistake Josuke made.

_"Yeah… It's me, Josuke."_

Hearing that should have made Josuke smile, it should have made him practically leap in joy… but when he heard those four words, he noticed that Shigechi's voice held no emotion. The Stand master of Harvest was always extremely emotional, Josuke and Okuyasu could always tell what Shigechi was thinking based off of either his words or expression.

But this was the first time Josuke had ever heard Shigechi's voice sound so empty. It sounded like the voice of a man who was on the verge of death, barely clinging to life.

A sudden sense of foreboding grew within his stomach. The snow continued to whirl around him.

"Shigechi?" Josuke said, his voice not nearly as loud as before as his eyebrows furrowed together.

_"I'm here, Josuke… But I'm still dead. I'm still just a bunch of ashes."_

He was not surprised to hear that, but Shigechi's statement only made him more confused he let out a cough. The cold was seeping into his very core and his vision became a little blurrier as the minutes passed.

But he needed answers.

"How the hell am I talking to you if you're not alive, Shigechi!? Where are you!? Do you have any idea what this place is?!" He screamed, but Shigechi did not answer him. For several seconds the only noise Josuke heard were the gales of the violent blizzard. The blood dripping from his wounds was now red ice as the temperature had frozen it solid.

_"It really hurt you know…"_  Shigechi seemed to ignore his questions, and hearing those words only made Josuke feel more apprehensive about the situation he was currently in. Just what in the hell was going on?

_"Dying, I mean,"_  he continued, and Josuke felt his heart dip into a pool just as icy as the snow around him.  _"When Kira blew me up… It really hurt…and what made it worse was that I was all alone… Like no one even cared that I was dying."_

Shigechi's words were painful to listen too as Josuke's single, nonfrozen eye filled with cold sorrow. "Shigechi, I'm sorry, but we did care about you, me and Okuyasu and every one of your friends miss you." A fire ignited in Josuke as his lips moved into a snarl. "What Kira did won't go unpunished, and the moment I find him he will pay with his damn blood."

_"If you cared about me… Then how come you let me die when you could have saved me?"_

Those words pierced Josuke's heart as he looked down. They were right of course; he should have saved his little friend. But he failed to do so.

_"I was killed, and you weren't there...right when I needed help the most, you had abandoned me and let that man kill me…and now look at me, I'm nothing but the voice of a dead man.."_

Josuke did not know what to say. There no words to say that could make his friend alive again.

"I'm sorry." He finally spoke, and his voice was weak and pathetic, but right now he did not care. His tone was perfect for a man who could not save his own friend.

_"Sorry ain't gonna bring me back…"_  there was no anger in Shigechi's voice, he simply phrased his words like he was reading a definition from a dictionary. And that made it so much worse. Josuke would have preferred Shigechi be furious at him than be so empty and unfeeling.

_"My Harvest let you know about Kira and what he was doing… And even after discovering him, you still have yet to kill him… it's not like you haven't had the chance, so how come you haven't killed him when you could have done it so many times before?"_

Josuke clenched his fist as he gritted his teeth. He couldn't find any good explanation as to why Kira was still breathing, and having no answer to that question made him angry. Even though Josuke had beaten Kira more than once, and even when he had pummeled the bastard with Crazy Diamond, he still had yet to kill the murderer.

The thought made him furious… but most of that rage was directed at himself.

_"Josuke…you let me die …you let Aya die…And you even let the people of this world die because of your mistakes…_

"I know…" Josuke said as his body fell to his knees, barely even noticing the snow as he looked up into the night. Everything Shigechi had said was true, there was no point in denying any of it. He was just a useless Stand User who let so many people die from a sick and depraved psychopath.

_"I don't think you do though… I mean…can you even hear them?"_

"Hear what?" Josuke said as the misery swirling within him only grew as he continued to listen to the spirit of his friend.

_"The voices… of the others."_

Before Josuke could ask what Shigechi meant, he heard it

He heard them all.

From seemingly everywhere, Josuke heard a plethora of voices screaming through the blizzard. He heard the voices of men, women, and even some children that he did not recognize shouting in pure agony. He heard screeches so loud he was sure his ears would start bleeding from the volume of the shouts.

But Josuke did not cover his ears, because he instantly knew whose voices these were.

They were the voices of Kira's victims.

_"It hurts!"_

_"Help me!"_

_"Please, the pain is too much!"_

_"I don't want to be dead!"_

Every one of the hundreds of voices that Josuke could hear were shouting similar statements. Each word they painfully wailed struck the young Stand User right at his core. He had never heard such agony from so many human beings, and he found himself quickly overwhelmed in an all-consuming wave of despair. To hear so much raw pain, to physically feel all the misery and suffering they experienced through their words was too much for any human being to handle.

_"These voices… There of all the people who have died by that monster's hands…"_  Shigechi stated as Josuke fell forward, his hands digging into the snow as the pain in his body soon became too much for him.  _"Both from this world and ours… And the number is only growing with each day."_

He knew now why Shigechi was doing this to him. To show him the consequences of his failure in physical form.

" _And because of you… Kira will continue to kill more people…and it's all your fault, Josuke Higashikata…"_

This was hell. What he was going through right now was torture.

_"My body is still burning!"_

_"God, please make it stop!"_

_"I just want the suffering to end!"_

As the voices continued to shout from the darkness, Josuke said nothing and choose to listen to the agony of the dead. He knew he had failed so many times before, and recently he had just failed saving more lives right before he fought Let Me Live. Shigechi was right, it was all his fault that so many people were suffering because of him, but seeing the pain the dead were going through right in front of his eyes made a deep pain spread throughout his body. It was far worse than any wounds that had ever been inflicted to his body up until now. Worse than the deadly chill that enveloped every inch of his body.

Because the guilt he felt from failing so many people could not possibly be matched by anything else.

_I'm more of a failure than I thought._ Slowly, the voices began to cease their shouting, disappearing and returning to wherever they came from.

_"Josuke, at this point, it might be better if you just sit here and freeze to death…"_  Those words cut worse than Josuke expected, and he was surprised that it was possible to feel even more sorrow drowning his heart.  _"At least that way the others won't be constantly disappointed in you the next time you fail to stop Kira."_

And those were the last words Josuke heard from Shigechi, and he was left alone in the storm.

Even as his wounds began to freeze and his skin started to change color, even as his conscience slowly faded away, and even though he knew the blizzard would kill him soon if he did nothing, Josuke could not focus on anything except all the pain and misery he had just witnessed.

Hearing not only Shigechi, but the voices of every one of Kira's victims blame him for their deaths absolutely shattered Josuke. It was his fault that so many people were now dead because of one monster, Josuke always seemed to be outsmarted by Kira just as it looked like he was finally about to end that monster. He thought back to all the times Kira had been able to escape him at the last second, he thought about his and Kira's fight in the light tunnel and how he was sure the murderer had to be dead now.

Only to be proven wrong almost immediately after he'd woken up in that hospital.

God damn it…how could he call himself a man if he was so awful at stopping one bastard from hurting so many people?

_Maybe Shigechi's right…maybe I should just sit here and freeze,_  he thought as he realized just how stiff his body was becoming. He found himself swallowed by fresh anguish, and right now, freezing to death seemed like the perfect way to end a miserable failure like himself.

But… then what would happen? Just how many more people would die if Josuke chose to let it end here? How many more innocents would fall victim to that monster if he succumbed to his grief?

Because if he died here, then there would be no one to stop Kira. If he were to die here, then he just be condemning more people to their deaths by that psychopath. If Josuke chose to end himself, he would be an appalling human being who had willingly allowed others to die just because he wanted to take the easy way out.

He was a miserable, guilt-ridden shell of a man who had already let who knows how many people die…but if he gave up now and didn't even bother to try and stop Kira, then he would be an absolute piece of crap.

He had a duty as the only other Stand user in this dimension to kill the Kira Yoshikage, and while he had failed so many people, if he did nothing then there would be mountains of corpses all caused by one man who no one could oppose.

Josuke looked inside himself, and amidst the sea of sorrow and regret, he found something that could help him take his mind away from all the immeasurable guilt that was crushing him.

For deep within himself, Josuke found the small fires of determination welling up within his soul. He had a job, to kill a murderer and finally avenge all those the bastard had killed and send him straight to hell. Josuke fanned the flames of his resolve as he slowly stood up, pushing past the coldness growing in him and the pain that should have killed him five times over. He shoved away all feelings of despair and anguish as the determination kept rising and burning within him, getting even stronger with each moment.

He would not die, even though he wished he was dead instead of friends and all the others Kira killed, he could not die just yet. When the murderer was finally stopped, he would deal with the consequences of his actions later.

_Just focus on stopping that bastard Josuke,_  he thought as he began to walk forward against the blizzard. The winds were so intense by now that the gales almost pushed Josuke back down to the ground, but he still continued to march forward as his conviction refused to waver. Each step he took was more painful than the last, his body exhausted and begging him to collapse. He was not sure for how long he wandered, but he knew that with every second that passed, darkness would grow in the corners of his eye.

But suddenly, Josuke was hit with a bright beam of light. Josuke had to bring his arm up in front of him to block out the rays. Somehow, he had ended up ten feet away from some object emitting the intense lights in the middle of the blizzard; and something told him that this was probably the same object he saw last time. He could partially make out the outline, but unless he stepped closer he could not clearly see whatever it was he was looking at.

With shoes filled to the brim with snow and frozen blood clinging to his skin, Josuke slowly limped towards the object. He was incredibly anxious, wondering if the large object in front of him would be anything like his encounters with Shigechi's spirit. Were it not for the fact that he could not find or see anything else amidst the gales of snow and darkness, he might have considered not venturing any closer.

But because he was getting a severe case of frostbite and because the last time he saw this mysterious object he had escaped this place, he decided this was probably his only chance of leaving the frozen wasteland.

After several painful strides, Josuke could now clearly make out the object as he moved closer. It was a car, a green somewhat bulky mini-van that appeared to be stuck in the snow. Josuke could see the tires desperately trying to escape the slushy portion of road, but they could not gain any friction. From inside the car, he was sure he could hear a woman's voice shouting curses at the top of her lungs.

_This looks kinda….familiar_. He could not tell why, but for some reason, he was sure he had seen this scene play out before. Not when he had first entered this new world, but long before that, he was sure he had encountered something eerily similar to this situation. There was a memory within his mind that was close to surfacing, but for some reason, Josuke could not quite see it.

He was now standing in front of the rear of the car, the falling snow covered the back window so Josuke could not see inside the van. He brought his hands up to the window as he wiped as much snow off as possible, the car's wheels still trying desperately to move. Having cleared off enough snow, Josuke leaned forward and peeked inside the van.

Within the bulky car, he could see a woman furiously stepping on the accelerator, still shouting curses as she slammed her hands against the steering wheel. He could not see her face since she was looking forward, but Josuke could still see her shoulder-length purple hair and petite figure from behind the driver's seat.

He was unsure if he should try speaking to the woman, wondering if she also was a part of the specters he had just spoken with. But his thoughts were quickly interrupted when he heard the sound of coughing coming from the passenger seat. Turning his head slightly to the left, he saw the pale brown seat was leaned back as far as it would go, and that resting against on top of it was a small child. The boy was wrapped in a thick blanket, a small towel on his forehead and his eyes half closed looking in Josuke's general direction; and even from outside the car, Josuke could see the boy's face was bright red. It took him a second to realize that the kid most likely had a fever.

_Why the hell would some lady take a sick kid out in… the middle...of a blizzard._

When he finished his thoughts, he suddenly found his one good eye unable to look away from the small boy. He looked at the boy's blue pupils, and he found himself staring at an incredibly recognizable face. This situation was more than just familiar to Josuke, and he was sure that he had the answer as to why. Josuke was sure that he had seen this child before, but for some reason, he could not figure out where. The whirlwind of snow from the blizzard seemed to rise in intensity as Josuke felt more like a block of ice then he did a human being. But even with the cold eating away at his very soul, he needed to figure out why this entire situation seemed so familiar. It was painful for him to be so close to realizing the answer yet still unable to connect the dots. Why was this child causing his head to whirl with confusion and frustration?

_Motherfucker, where have I seen this kid before!? Why the hell does everything about this scene_ _make_ _my head hurt!?_

And it was then he noticed something about the kid. Before he thought the boy was looking in his general direction, but now it was obvious the kid was looking right at him. Well, almost right at him, since the kid's vision was aimed a bit high; instead of his face, the kid seemed to be looking at his hair.

Then it clicked.

And Josuke found his one remaining eye widening and practically bulging out of his socket. His mouth hung open, his body felt numb, not from the cold but because the answer to his question was beyond shocking.

He remembered why the boy seemed so familiar; he remembered why the car and this whole situation was familiar. For the boy he was currently looking at was…him.

_Holy shit._

There was no mistaking it now. The eyes, the short hair and the frail body was what he looked like when he was a child. He forgot about the pain flooding his body, he forgot about the God-awful situation he was currently in as his focus was now completely on the boy. This place...whatever the hell it was, for some reason, it was showing him a moment from the worst day of his life. The mind-shattering questions that filled his head were enough to make Josuke break out into a cold sweat, which was then made worse by the blizzard.

_But, if that's me… Then that means…_

Slowly, he turned his gaze away from the boy and looked at the woman who still had yet to notice him. It might have been an illusion, it might not really be her, but still, even if it was a fake, seeing her face again would warm Josuke's soul; if only for a second.

"…Mom?" He said, and the woman in the car somehow heard his voice over the raging blizzard as she moved away from her seat and turned her head towards Josuke.

But what he saw was not his mother.

Not. Even. Close.

It had all the right features, from its choice of clothing to its style of hair, it had almost copied his mother's form flawlessly.

Except for its face.

In the place of his mom's vibrant and serene brown eyes were two, empty voids of white. There was not a single hint of life anywhere in its sockets, the soulless pupils stared at Josuke and gazed right into his eyes.

But its face was what truly terrified Josuke.

Instead of pale skin, black static colored the face of the thing sitting in the car. It was like looking at a malfunctioning TV, watching as it fruitlessly tried to load the proper images but instead constantly blurring and darkening the screen. The only difference here was that underneath static covering the thing's body was the distorted and warped mouth. The constantly buzzing and flickering static made its lifeless husk of eyes all the more threatening as Josuke felt his heart stop beating.

_What the hell!_

And then the thing that was almost Tomoko Higashikata spoke.

_**"Help us…"**  _Its voice was so horrible; it was like the last gasps of a dead man mixed with the high pitched wailing sound of a static-ridden computer.

_**"Please."**_ And from its lifeless voids, dark red blood dripped in thick streaks down to the car seat.

And before Josuke got the chance to scream, the blizzard around him began to whirl like a hurricane, the winds becoming incredibly strong and pushing Josuke back a few feet. His vision was quickly covered by the rapidly falling flakes; so much so that he could no longer see the car.

The snow continued to whip violently around Josuke, the winds becoming so intense they caused large cuts to appear on Josuke's already battered body.

"Damn it!" Josuke shouted, the storm around him continuing to whirl as he found himself struggling to even stand against the intense gales. And then, from high above him in the darkened sky, Josuke was hit with a bright yellow light that easily pierced through thick winds of snow. The light continued to grow, soon Josuke could no longer see anything but the bright light as he found his entire body swallowed by the glow.

* * *

Josuke let out a scream as he awoke, eyes widening as shot up from whatever he had been laying on. His breaths came out in raspy coughs as his throat felt like he had swallowed sandpaper. He slammed a fist against his chest multiple times in an attempt to regulate his breathing, and surprisingly it worked as Josuke's breaths were now somewhat labored but his cough was now gone.

"Shit!" He said with a deep frown as sweat ran down his forehead. "What the hell was that!?" The images of the blizzard, the voices of Shigechi and the spirits, the car with a young him inside, and the sight of the thing with his mother's features ran through his mind.

Twice. He had been transported to some frozen wonderland twice. The first time he thought it was a dream, but now it was clear that what he had experienced both times were very real.

But…what exactly was it had he just saw? What was causing him to see a land eerily resembling the blizzard he almost died in so many years ago.

There were so many questions, but he had no answers for any of them.

"God damn it Josuke, what the hell kind of mess are you in now?" In addition to being in a new world and learning the monster he knew and hated was still killing people, he now had to worry about some frozen wasteland that seemed to take him whenever he was knocked out. And he had no idea if some new form of torture might be waiting for him the next time he went to that place.

_There has to be some kind of explanation as to what I keep seeing._  Channeling on the power flowing through him, Josuke summoned Crazy Diamond, who floated about two feet in front of Josuke.

"For some reason, I can't summon you in that place. But how is that possible? It would take some kind of insanely powerful Stand to do that, and I'm sure there are no other Stand User's in this world except for me and Kira."

Josuke had not exactly gone out of his way to find other Stand User's, but his gut told him that there would be no other people who could manifest their fighting spirit. Stand Users were naturally drawn towards other Stand User's, and he had yet to encounter any despite being unconscious in this world for who knows how long. And when he was researching events of this world's past, he found no mention of the golden arrow's that bestowed people the gift of Stands.

And if there was another Stand User, Josuke was sure they would have killed him after sucking him into that strange place by now.

"So what the hell is going on?" Josuke muttered, looking at his partner with eyes full of confusion.

Crazy Diamond did not answer verbally, instead simply shaking its head from side to side.

"I figured you say that," Josuke let out a sigh as he ceased using the power rippling within him and Crazy Diamond faded from reality. He turned his head and looked around, taking in his surroundings. He was sitting on a bench underneath a large tree. Around him, there was a stone path that twisted and led between several small hills where people were talking or walking their dogs. There were dozens of trees planted throughout the are, and Josuke saw the sun was shining down on him through the dark green leaves.

"Looks like I'm in some kind of park." He said before his eyes flew open as his head whipped in every direction. "Wait, a park? How the hell did I get here?" He was nowhere near a park during his fight with Let Me Live, and he knew he had collapsed just outside the flaming streets. He ran a hand through his now messy hair and wondered what the hell happened after he had collapsed. He absentmindedly noticed that he really needed to buy some damn hair products quickly or else-

Wait a minute.

He turned his head towards his arm. The same arm that had gotten hit by one of Let Me Live's explosion, the same arm that had been in nerve burning pain…was now not only fine to move, but it also seemed to be void of any injuries.

"What the…" Josuke looked at his body and he could hardly believe what he saw. Through his ripped and singed clothing, he saw that most of his wounds were healed. While there were some somewhat large burns and bruises still present, most of his more severe injuries had been completely fixed.

"I'm… Healed." Josuke said, slowly moving away from the bench as he stood up. Pained welled up in his body as he stood, but it was not nearly as bad as he expected. His legs that had been shattered in his last fight were now both fine; his body was still incredibly sore though, as he stood he found himself fighting back against a searing pain slowly growing within him, but he could still stand. He jumped from his spot, and when he landed a burning agony spread throughout his body. He let out a grunt as he sat back down on the bench. He then once again began to look over his body.

"Looks like somehow most of my injuries have been healed. Still can't move all that well, but at least nothing's broken anymore." But that only raised even more questions. He was grateful to still be alive, but the fact he wasn't dead even though he hadn't received any sort of medical help immediately raised several red flags within his mind. Why the hell was it that every other minute he was in this world, he was forced to deal with some new mystery that could have dire consequences later on?

But as he continued to get lost in the storm of questions, he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. He turned and saw and peeking out from underneath the bench was a newspaper, and his eyes were honed in at the text. He reached underneath the bench and picked it up, wiping away the mud and dirt that had accumulated on the paper before reading it.

Near the top of the paper, the words "Bombing Investigation Still Continues" were written in bold black text, underneath it were images of the same streets he and Let Me Live had fought on. Reading the passages below the title, Josuke found out that the local police and even members of the FBI had been investigating what they believed to be a series of bombings done by some unknown terrorist group. While Josuke felt a little bad upon causing so much damage, he was relieved that aside from the people who were on the bus with him, no one else had gotten hurt or had died that night.

And then he realized something very important.

The paper said that the investigation was still ongoing…not that it had just begun. Which meant that the authorities had been investigating the aftermath of his fight for some time now. But that was impossible, how could the police move so fast when the fight was just last night?

_Unless…_

Josuke eyes traveled down near the bottom of the paper. Written there was the date, September 23, 2016…which was a full two weeks after he had first woken up from the hospital!

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me!" Josuke shouted, jumping from the bench and drawing the attention of several people walking through the park, but he paid no mind to them; he didn't even pay any attention to the fresh pain rising in his legs. Right now, a sickening and cold wave had swept over him as a single thought ran through his psyche.

He had been asleep for two weeks, and in those weeks Kira had most likely killed who knows how many people.

Low growls came from his mouth, his eyes glaring at the paper with nothing but hatred as he crumpled it into a ball and chucked it into a nearby trashcan. All of the questions going through his mind were immediately forgotten as his anger exploded within his soul.

Because of that bastard's bomb, he had been knocked out for far too long and now other people were suffering because of it. Josuke now had to double his efforts to make it to Beach City, no matter what kind of traps or plans Kira had in store for him.

He needed to stop him, otherwise more and more people would die alone and in a fiery explosion.

Josuke bit his lip so hard it drew blood.

Without wasting another moment, Josuke ran down the stone path, his expression coursing with violent rage—almost like an inferno.

And while he ran, Josuke could once again hear the grief and agony-ridden voices of Kira's past victims shouting in his head. And the screams only grew louder by the second.

* * *

Using the Warp Pad to travel always left Steven with a slight dizziness. It was nowhere near as bad as when he first started to activate the Pads by himself, but it was still present even after using the alien transportation device so many times. Thankfully, the shaky sensation clogging his mind only lasted for a second and would immediately go away afterward. Though, feeling that sensation was always just a tiny bit frustrating to Steven.

But being able to use the Warp Pads was still amazing and incredible since it allowed to travel anywhere he wanted almost instantly. The Warp Pads allowed him to visit his friends in a matter of seconds.

Which was the reason as to why Steven was using them today.

The bright and pulsing blue light faded away along with the dizziness and Steven found himself standing in a large open field of grass. A lone tree was located about a dozen feet away from Steven, and the leaves of the tree were shifting from vibrant green to autumn's signature yellow and orange color. Steven jumped from the Warp Pad and began to run up a small hill, the shape of a building soon peaking above the slope as he continued to ascend. After a minute of running, Steven stood a good distance away from a barn. It was large and old; every inch was painted a light shade of red while the roof of the barn was black. On the right side of the barn, an enormous water tank protruded from the wall at an angle, somehow not falling and able to keep itself firmly lodged inside the wood.

Above the entrance of the barn, a sliding door that was currently covered with a white tarp, and high in the air was the back half of a pickup truck planted deeply into the building. On the truck's cargo area were a small black TV and a pink and light blue umbrella embedded in the taillight.

And currently sitting in front of the TV was the person Steven had come to visit.

"Lapis! Are you home?!" Steven shouted, a wide and joyful smile on his lips as the woman on the truck stood up suddenly before walking to the edge of the car.

"Steven? Oh, hold on a second." The woman spun her fingers in a circle, and from a nearby puddle, water was lifted into the air. The body of water floated upwards, being pulled by some unseen force before converging on the woman's back. The liquid began to take shape, forming a pair of deep blue wings of water so transparent Steven could see right through them.

The woman then jumped off the truck, but instead of plummeting to the ground her wings flapped gently, creating strong gusts of wind that slowed her descent. In a few seconds, she had reached the ground and was giving a small smile to the youngest Crystal Gem, her wings melting back into drops of water.

"It's great to see you again, Steven." The water manipulating woman said, black eyes staring at Steven's. She had cyan skin and blue chin length hair arranged in bangs. A knee-length blue skirt was wrapped around her slim figure and she also had on an equally blue backless top. On her back was a blue ribbon and a dark blue gemstone in the shape of a tear.

This was Lapis Lazuli, a Gem that had been trapped in a mirror for thousands of years before Steven finally freed her. And he was also one of the few people she would call a friend.

"Are the others…not coming today?" She asked, and Steven did not miss the faint hint of happiness in her voice or the lack of disappointment on her expression.

And considering what she went through, he could not exactly blame her for having this reaction. It was a little upsetting, but Steven had expected this since it was obvious Lapis did not like the other Gems as much as he did.

"Nope, not today," Steven replied without missing a beat, his smile just as wide and energetic. Lapis grin grew a little and excitement flashed in her eyes for a second before he continued. "Pearl, Amethyst and Garnet are out traveling to other Warp Pad locations to see if…" He trailed off for a moment, the joy in his expression vanishing as a troubled frown spread across his face. "They can find some kind of clue as to what type of Gem Monster's hiding in town."

Lapis frowned at seeing Steven's joy be replaced by gloom. "Oh, right. That thing that almost blew up your friends is still out there." She said, as if she was just talking about her favorite show and not something that was so distressing.

Steven's face grew more anxious at Lapis' words, and he had trouble keeping eye contact and not looking at the floor. She didn't mean to sound so cold, she was just rather blunt about stating the things on her mind without really…considering how much her words could damage someone even if she didn't mean it.

She was a nice person, but she could still be incredibly insensitive at times. Kind of like Peridot.

"Yep, we're still trying to find that rogue Gem." He said, adding in a few short laughs that sounded incredibly forced.

Lapis quickly noticed Steven's mood dip even further, and her eyes widened just a bit in realization. "Wait, my bad, I didn't mean to...I was just trying too… I mean I thought…" She said, scrambling to find some way to explain herself. Her eyes shifted from right to left before she looked back at Steven. He saw her expression now held a hint of regret. "Sorry, I shouldn't have said that. I didn't want too-."

"It's okay Lapis, I get it." He interrupted, and he really did. Lapis carried herself in nonchalant and almost uncaring demeanor, but underneath that was a girl who had been damaged by something truly horrific and just wanted to move on. And that was why sometimes she could be a bit cruel and perhaps spiteful, but she was still a good person despite her flaws. And the last thing Steven watned was to upset his close friend.

They stood in awkward silence for a few moments before Lapis spoke again.

"Are they okay now?" She asked, trying to sound more caring than before.

"Yeah, they're fine. I used my powers to heal them, but I couldn't heal all of their injuries so right now they're still at the hospital." Seeing Lapis' expression grow in confusion, Steven elaborated. "A hospital's a place humans go to if they get hurt badly."

"Oh, okay." She said, as another wave of uncomfortable silence washed over the two.

While Kofi and Kiki were fine, the former apparently well enough to scream at the staff to let him out and get back to work if what Jenny told him about her constant visits were true, he was still worried. Not just for Kofi and Kiki, but for the rest of the people of Beach City.

It had been two weeks since the explosion of Fish Stew Pizza, and Steven began to notice an unusual quiet enveloping his town. When he went out to meet with Connie, the locals who walked the streets were nervous, so much so that some even flinching from the sudden loud noise of a car before they realized it was nothing. Apparently, a lot of people had been close to the area where the explosion happened, and they were still fearful of another event like that happening again. When he went to Beach Citywalk Fries he saw that only Peedee and Ronaldo were working there. Fryman apparently was busy making sure his business rival was okay, going to the hospital almost every day as Ronaldo had told him.

But what really caught Steven's attention was the smothering silence spreading throughout within the food shack. The only real sound that emitted from the hollow atmosphere of the shack was the deep fryer cooking the fries. It was clear to Steven that the fact that their friends and business competitors had gotten injured made them sorrowful, making work rather difficult now. Ronaldo didn't even ask him if he or the Gems had made contact with any snake people.

The nearly tangible feeling of dread and worry was something that clung to a majority of his friends nowadays.

Especially to Onion and the rest of his family.

Vidalia and the rest of the missing women had still not been found yet. He and the rest of the Gems had stepped up in protecting their town and looking for the mysterious creature with an intense resolve, actively patrolling Beach City for even the slightest hint of trouble. But despite their efforts, they had come up with nothing, so whatever kind of Corrupted Gem was lurking beneath the city was clearly very stealthy and had to possess some form of intelligence. To make matters worse, Mayor Dewey had said that the number of people disappearing was actually increasing. They had no way of knowing the total amount of people being taken, but the fact that more people were suffering because of their failure to stop one Gem was painful to Steven.

It didn't help that sometimes…his mind was consumed by images of him failing to convince Bismuth to not use the Breaking Point. The shocked and grief-ridden face Bismuth had on right after Steven stabbed her would at times haunt him.

_Remember what Connie said,_  Steven quickly focused on the memory of him and Connie training. He remembered the kind and insightful words she told him, how he had to acknowledge how bad it felt to remember Bismuth instead of just bubbling it away in order to move on. And he had, maybe not completely but he had at least made progress. He no longer heard Bismuth's voice, and even though the news of the missing women only seemed to be getting worse, he was still able to remain upbeat and positive. He was still able to not let his worries and grief take over his body, and instead focus on the good things around him.

He was still able to be himself.

And it was then he realized that neither he nor Lapis had said anything for who knows how long, the water manipulating Gem looking incredibly uncomfortable as she gazed at anywhere but Steven.

Crud.

Realizing he had to act now since Lapis most likely believed the uncomfortable silence was her fault, Steven coughed into his fist to draw her attention back to him.

"Hehe, sorry about that, I kind of got lost in my thoughts." Steven said, offering Lapis an inviting and warm smile.

"Do all humans creepily stare at others and not talk when they're lost in thought?" She asked giving Steven her usual blank and somewhat wry gaze. Though unlike usual, there was a small grin on her face. His smile grew a little, glad she was quick to rebound after that little bit of discomfort.

"Sometimes," He answered, and Lapis let out a small giggle. It was nice and very pretty, and Steven really wished she would laugh more often. But he knew she would eventually.

"So, why did you come to visit me?" She said, and Steven remembered the exact reason why he came to the barn today.

"Because," he said, reaching into his back pocket and pulling out a small, crumpled up flyer. The entire front was dyed a dark blue, the rest of the paper had several paragraphs written in neon-green font that went all the way to the bottom. "Of this!" He shouted, excitement glinting in his eyes as he handed the paper to Lapis.

The blue Gem's eyes were locked near the top of the paper. "The End of Summer Fireworks Spectacular?" She said, raising a brow as it became clear she did not understand what Steven was showing her.

"It's this big event where Mr. Smiley, one of my human friends, sets up a bunch of fireworks to declare that summer is officially over." While it was sad that summer had gone by so quickly, to Steven this event was a way to remind him that he could still have fun with his friends long after summer passed.

"And "fireworks" are…?"

"There these super awesome explosions in the sky that have all sorts of colors! When they explode, they can change into amazing creatures or other things like a star or something even cooler than a star. And the best part is, after the fireworks finish exploding, the lights from the blast fall down slowly back to the earth and it's like the sky is being painted right in front of your eyes."

Lapis eyes were welling up with curiosity, her face now held a tinge of faint yet still bright joy. That level of happiness wasn't enough for Steven's taste, so he added a clincher that he knew grab Lapis' attention.

"It's like hundreds of Meep Morps being created in the sky!"

That made her eyes widen slightly, if Steven hadn't been looking directly into her pupils he would have missed it, but he saw it and also witnessed a small, joyful smile crossing her face. "Wow, that does sound kinda cool." She said, before her expression tightened and her lips moved into a thin line. "But are the others, you know, going to be able to make it." She asked.

"Well, they would but like I said they're checking the Warp Pads. Like, they're gonna spend the whole day checking each and every Warp Pad location." He explained, and he saw Lapis raise a tiny brow at his words.

"Every single one?" She asked.

"Yeah, see, we don't really know what kind of Gem we're up against, but Garnet thought it would be best if we checked every location to see if there be some kind of trail the monster used to get into town." It was doubtful they find anything, but still each and every member of the Crystal Gems would leave no stone unturned in their attempts to find the creature. "We're pretty sure that the Gem somehow used the Warp Pad, maybe by accident or on purpose we don't know, to teleport to a nearby area, and then snuck in through the woods." That was Garnet and Pearl's explanation anyway, and to him and Amethyst it sounded possible. "And maybe once they find the trail, we can figure out what type of Corrupted Gem we're dealing with." The three older Crystal Gems were going to split up and venture to each Warp Pad location by themselves in order to cover more ground. And this was why they didn't want Steven coming with them. They had no idea how powerful the Gem was, and did not want to take the chance of Steven coming into contact with it by himself.

Which was a reasonable and perfectly acceptable explanation, he was not even the slightest bit bitter about it...he was just a tad…disappointed, that was all.

"But it's no big deal," Steven quickly added, not wanting another surge of sullen silence to sweep over them. Or for Lapis to think she had brought up more bad memories, if the current somewhat stoic but still worried expression her face was any indication. "After all, I can still watch the fireworks with you and Peridot. If you want to watch them, of course."

She gave him a small smile, "Yeah, I think I'd like that."

While he would have liked it if every member of his family could go see the fireworks, it was probably for the best this time that they all couldn't. He knew Lapis, and he highly doubted she would have agreed to watch fireworks with him if the other Gems came with him. So, with them currently out, he realized this could be the perfect chance to bond with his friend. With no one else besides Peridot, Lapis would be comfortable and hopefully happy as they watch the fireworks from the barn. There would be nothing to stress or bother her, so Steven was sure that she would have a good time as they relaxed in her home where she was perfectly comfortable at.

Lapis still held onto the paper, her eyes narrowed as she continued to read the lines. "Wait… Will we be able to see the "fireworks" from here? It says here that they're launching them from your town."

"Oh don't worry, we'll totally be able to see them," Steven assured her, though his eyes glance to the side for one second as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, mostly be able to."

"Mostly?" Lapis asked.

"Well, we'll be able to see them, but it might be just a little blurry or maybe a bit obscured." He explained. "We're really far away from the town, so we're not in the best spot to view them, but we'll still be able to watch them and have lots of fun."

Lapis eyes were still on the paper, an emotionless expression on her face. He had gotten somewhat good at reading her apathetic expressions, so he could partially tell what she was thinking about.

"If you're worried about not being able to see them, worst case me and Peridot just hop on your back and you fly us to the sky and we watch from there." He said, giving a short laugh, but Lapis did not respond or even look up from the paper. That made him quirk an eyebrow, but he still continued with a smile. "But if the two of us are too heavy for you I can just jump up and float for with my powers while you carry Peridot, and if you get tired we could-"

"Um, Steven," Lapis interrupted, eyes moving away from the paper in her hands and to Steven. Her face held a touch of discomfort, but why Steve had no idea. "Where would… Where would be the best place to watch the firework?"

Oh... Steven was not expecting that question.

"Well, um…" He trailed off, before hesitantly continuing. "The best place would have to be at…Funland." He finished as he watched Lapis' face contort into with an unreadable emotion. One of the reasons Steven did not suggest going to the amusement park was because he figured Lapis would not have fun is she was surrounded by unknown people and in a strange, new environment. The blue Gem was one of the strongest people he knew, but she was still a tad fragile when it came to exploring new things. She still held so much anguish and trauma from her past; so the last thing he wanted to do was freak her out by accidentally causing the Lapis to relive her horrible memories. Or introduce her to something unpleasant that might make her a little...stressed, to put it lightly. Which was why he was sure the last thing she wanted was to go-.

"Can we go there?"

"What?" Lapis words made his eyes widen in shock as he stared at the taller Gem.

"Can we go there?" She repeated, and Steven was having trouble keeping himself from squealing in joy. He had always wanted to bring Lapis to his town, to show her around all the wonderful places Beach City had to offer, to show her all his other friends. But he always stopped himself from asking because he knew that Lapis would have to be the one who asked, not him.

"Are you sure you wanna go? We don't have to if you don't want too." He quickly said, wanting to make sure Lapis was absolutely comfortable with the idea of going to the amusement park. He always figured it would take the blue Gem a good deal of time before she was ever ready to explore areas full of people. If she truly desired to come visit the city he grew up in, even if it was only for a couple of hours, this day would go from great to awesome!

"Yeah, I'm sure." Lapis answered, giving Steven a reassuring smile. "These "fireworks" really sound cool and… Maybe you can show me around "Funland" before then?" And that was all Steven needed to hear before he jumped up, his pupils turning to bright, white stars as the biggest smile imaginable spread across his face.

"That's great!" He shouted before hugging the Gem with all his strength. "The fireworks don't start until it gets dark, but before that there's so much to do in Funland. There are so many awesome games, Mister Smiley is one of the coolest guys I know, and maybe you can meet some of my friends there too. Of course, that's only if you want too, because if you don't-."

"Steven," Lapis voice interrupted the youngest Gem's rapid-fire rant.

"Yeah?" He said, looking up at Lapis.

"You're crushing me." She said in an extremely deadpan tone, her eyes once again blank. Apparently, Steven had been a little too forceful and was quite literally crushing her under his tiny yet powerful arms that could easily lift three times his weight.

"Sorry!" Steven quickly let go of Lapis. "I forget about my own strength sometimes."

"You were splitting me in half." She said, still giving Steven her apathetic stare.

He laughed shakily at that before Lapis spoke again. "Hey, I should've asked earlier, but where exactly is Peridot? She left the barn in such a big rush she didn't tell me where she was going."

"Oh, well when the others told us they were gonna be out for the whole day, Peridot said she wanted help out too. So me and Pearl decided to send her to town with a list of things to do.

"… Has she destroyed anything yet?" Lapis asked, raising an eyebrow as it was clear she was legitimately curious and not at all sarcastic.

"No, she hasn't," Steven answered with a grin. "And I don't think she will, this time anyway." He muttered those last three words under his breath before he grabbed Lapis' hands and began to once again jump. "I'm so happy you want to go to Funland! We should leave in like a couple of hours, and I can't wait to show you some of the rides there like-!"

As Steven continued to list of the large number of rides and attractions the amusement park held, Lapis couldn't help but let out a big smile of her own as she looked back at the barn and then towards the bundle of ecstasy and care that was Steven.

"You're gonna have a blast!" Steven shouted, and he meant it. He would make sure she would.

Or else his name wasn't Steven Universe.

* * *

Peridot had learned quite a lot about human culture in the past few hours.

Specifically, how poor and dense a human's brain could really be.

_Oh, little girl, I'm sorry, I didn't see you there._

_Hey there short stuff, where are your parents?_

_I'm terribly sorry kiddo, I didn't see you there cause you're so_ **small.**

Why was it that every other human on this planet seemed so clueless to the most obvious facts that even non-sentient creatures would grasp? She was not a "child," she was not a "kid," and she most certainly was not _small._  She was an Era Two Peridot, her shape and size were perfect by Homeworld standards. Yet for some reason, only a select few humans, Steven being one of them, ever realized that her height was in fact fine.

She was not small. She was, in Amethyst's words, fun-sized…whatever that meant.

And every time a human who made the same grave error, she would explain to them exactly why and how they were wrong.

By screaming as loudly as possible, getting right in their faces, and enjoying the looks of terror mixed with surprise that were quickly etched onto their features.

They were just lucky she had only  _partially_  hissed at them.

_How do the others put up with the humans with such little intelligence?_  She thought, rolling her eyes as she continued to pull a small black wagon full of brown paper bags around the same height as her.

Currently, she was walking on the curb of a street and heading towards her next destination. When Amethyst and the others announced they would be spending all day checking Warp Pads for clues as to the whereabouts of the unknown Corrupted Gem, she was a little upset at being left out. It was obvious to her that the other Gems were worried about the mysterious creature wreaking havoc on the town. She also noticed that Steven was especially worried, while the happy and joyful human child she had grown to care for still smiled his traditionally big and charming smiles, there were times where she could see sadness in his eyes; and such a look on Steven was...wrong. It was clear that not catching the creature that had hurt his human friends, even after two weeks of extensive patrols and heightened security measures, was dismaying for the human child.

Which was why she wanted to help in any way she could. While she did not harbor the same levels of emotional attachment the original four Crystal Gems held for Beach City, she was still concerned about Steven and the other Gems. If they were bothered by something, she wanted to help them out. Especially to the boy who had given her a second chance.

But Pearl had said that they couldn't come with them. She explained that it was too dangerous this time since they were splitting up to track down the unknown enemy and did want to risk Steven of herself encountering the Gem. They did not know how powerful it was, and for all they knew the rouge Gem might be  _expecting_ them to find its trail. After all, it was clearly had some form of intelligence if it had avoided getting caught for so long.

While she agreed with that analysis, she still felt a bit resentful for being left out of something that she wanted to be a part of. Steven must have picked up on her feelings, the gem-hybrid was incredibly adept at picking up on one's emotional state, and suggested she do something called "shopping." Pearl was a tad hesitant, but after much prompting from Steven, and even herself who thought shopping was something at least somewhat important, she agreed. After explaining what exactly "shopping" was, which was essentially restocking of assorted goods for Steven, she went out with a list currently held in her right hand and "money" stored in the wagon they gave her.

And so far, she was discovering "shopping" was incredibly tedious and frustrating. Waiting in lines, picking out the "snacks" written on the list that were on ridiculously high shelves, and the comments on her physical stature was absolutely maddening.

But…there had been some good moments. One of the reasons Steven encouraged her to "shop" was so that way she could see more of Beach City. And some of the places she went too were…interesting, she would admit. She went to a "hardware store" and found a plethora of tools that, while not the most advanced objects she had ever seen, were still valuable and ones she could use them later for future mechanical endeavors. She was glad Steven had given her extra strips of the green paper and ink in case she wanted to buy something.

Suddenly, she heard a ding coming from behind her. She stopped walking and turned around to look at the wagon full of bags. She walked towards the wagon and reached a hand into one of the bags and pulled out a tablet. Bringing it to her face, she saw that she had received a text message from Steven.

_Lapis said yes! Currently at Gem Temple getting all the supplies we'll need!_  The message read

It did not take long for Peridot to figure out he was talking about the "fireworks" show. Steven had shown her the flyer, and she was instantly attracted to this event and quickly decided to watch it with him. Peridot was also happy that Lapis had agreed, since watching this new and amazing earth custom would not be the same without her. All that was left was to establish when Steven should come over to the barn, and then they would set up and-

Her thoughts were interrupted by another ding as she looked down at the tablet and read another message.

_She also said she was willing to go to Funland to see the fireworks!_

Now that surprised her. She was not expecting her hydrokinetic friend to be willing to go to such a heavily populated, and quite frankly weird, place like Beach City. She had assumed Lapis would prefer to stay in the barn, considering her personality and how she was still dealing with her past…issues.

But hearing, or reading in this case, that she was wanted to go to the "amusement land," she was a little unsure if that was the correct term, made her happy. And now that Lapis was wanted to go to "Funland," she could not wait to show her friend where she won that big headed, adorable doll full of cotton. It was one of her finest moments.

_THAT'S GREAT!_  She wrote, quickly typing away at the tablet.  _WILL MEET UP WITH YOU GUYS AS SOON AS I FINISH THE "SHOPPING."_  When she finished writing that sentence, she looked back at the list in her hands and saw she only had a few more places to go too.  _SHOULD BE DONE SOON!_  She pressed the send button, and not even a second later Steven responded.

_Okay! See you soon!_

She was excited to see these "fireworks." After Steven had explained the basic concept to her, at first she thought they were missiles being launched into the sky to exterminate invisible foes, but after Steven told her that wasn't the case, Steven searched online with her tablet to show her what "fireworks" were. And she saw thousands of pictures of a variety of colorful explosions and was immediately captivated; she instantly could not wait to see them in real life. Maybe she could take one home and experiment on it to see if the device can produce more volatile explosions.

It would be fun.

She began to pull the wagon again, carefully placing her tablet back into one of the paper bags, and began to walk again. After several minutes, she reached a small building painted in a light blue color. Near the roof of the building, the words "Quick Shop" were written in big, white bold letters. However, what caught her attention was the door that led inside the store.

Because there was a sign with the words "Closed" hanging from the doorknob in red letters.

"…Okay, I see the door is "Closed," I don't understand why you have to put a sign up to indicate that fact." She said, before pushing the door open and entering the store.

Inside the store were several rows of packaged food in colorful bags. Near the shelves located in the back were several fridges which held several frosty human foods, "Ice Cream" if her memory served right. Near the front of the store was a counter that held several types of candies in small boxes and a small cash register.

However, something was odd about the store. For one, there were no other people here while in every other store she had been to today there had been at least five maybe six other people at minimum.

And then there was…the silence. The only sounds she heard were from the fluorescent lights above constantly flickering. The silence around her was...hollow, for lack of a better word, and she felt herself awkwardly shifting and fidgeting for no real reason. The quiet seemed to wrap around her like an uncomfortable article of clothing, and no matter how hard she tried to ignore it, she couldn't. It felt unnatural, and worry began to build up in her chest.

She shook her head, realizing she was being stupid. There was nothing to fear here, and she had to complete the list Pearl and Steven gave her.

So, she pulled the wagon and began to walk down the aisles as she attempted to find the items that were stated to be here. After a few minutes, she found the different types of "snacks" on the list and put them in her wagon.

She walked back to the counter, but there was no one there.

Annoyed, Peridot climbed onto the counter, struggling a little as she did so but was still able to get on top.

"Humans, I have come to purchase your goods!" She shouted, but received no answer, so she tried again. "Hello! Did you not hear me!" She shouted even louder this time, but once again received no response. She let out a little growl at this. Honestly, what kind of fools would ignore a customer like her. She was just about to shout again, when she felt her foot step in something wet.

Looking down, she found her left foot was resting on a small puddle of red liquid. Her eyes narrowed as she crouched down and dabbed her fingers in the unknown liquid. She brought her fingers up to her eyes, the red liquid now dripping down her digits. The liquid was familiar; it wasn't paint nor was it some form of juice, but she knew she had seen a liquid like this before. But where-?

Then it hit her.

_Blood._  Peridot thought, her eyes widening. Steven had once cut himself by accident when he was handling a pair of scissors, and Peridot had asked him what that stuff leaking down his hand was. Steven had explained to her that humans had a liquid inside them known as blood, and it essentially was what kept them functioning and healthy. He also told her that if a human lost to much blood, then their lives may be in danger.

So seeing blood outside of human's body immediately set off several alarms in her mind. She was now a member of the Crystal Gems, so if a human was in trouble, it was now her responsibility to help them.

"Human! Do you require help!" She shouted, and this time she heard something. Being a Gem, she had above average hearing when compared to humans, so she was able to hear the faint noise of something opening and then quickly shutting. Looking around, she saw there was a door located a short distance away from the counter. She hopped off the counter down to other side before running to the door and quickly opening it. She was now in a small, confined storage area. Several boxes were stacked in multiple columns and there was a small desk with a computer located next to the wall. Peridot saw a small trail of blood drops on the floor and she quickly followed the path of red liquid. She navigated around the boxes and eventually found herself in front of another door.

She pushed the door open and found herself back on the streets, now on the far-right side of the building; her eyes scanned the buildings around her in an attempt to find the injured human.

And she did. With her enhance eyesight, she saw was able to spot a small amount of blood on the wrist of a human's clothes dozens of feet away. She was about to call out to the human, run to their side to aid them and help, but she stopped herself.

Because when she saw the human's face, she found herself unable to move. Her eyes were unable to look away from the human located diagonally across from her on one of the street curbs.

Because to Peridot, the human about three dozen feet away disturbed her right to her core, even if she could only see the left side of his body from where she was standing. The blue suit and blue pants were average human clothing, and blonde hair was nothing out of the ordinary. But the human's face…while not very distinctive from other human males, laying in his eyes was a cluster of menace and despair. The way he carried himself spoke of a being who believed they were superior to anyone, and he could back up that claim if need be. The arrogance in his very walk was palpable to Peridot, even from so far away, and the amount of disdain for those around him was evident in every step he took. From within his frown poured waterfalls worth of contempt that flooded the streets the green Gem stood on.

Never had a human reminded her so much of Yellow Diamond. She had never seen another being who perfectly matched the hatred and scorn only a Diamond could wield, a being whose confidence in their abilities was as large as the fear they aroused from those foolish enough to stand in their way.

And what shocked who most of all was the fact that nobody was actively bowing, that no one was getting annihilated by this being for the stupidity they were displaying. This person who was clearly a being who hunted and killed anyone who dared annoy them, for some reason, was simply walking down the streets like he was just another human and not a terror-inducing emperor who held no love or joy; whose only thoughts were how best to control the plebeians around him.

And for one horrifying moment, Peridot was sure the man glared at her from the corner of his eye. And then she was back on Homeworld, Limb Enhancers reattached to her body as she received one of the Diamond's Gem piercing gazes. Every part of her trembled, her very body felt like it was crumbling to pieces as she desperately tried to keep herself from falling apart, but her efforts were useless. Her mind could not process anything other than the all-consuming terror turning her world pitch black with darkness.

And just like that, the fear was gone. Sweat poured down her face and glided across her visor as she found her body was still in one piece. The man she had just been staring at was gone, and she found herself able to move again. She looked down, eyes wide with a haunting fear, and saw her entire body was trembling.

_What…What was that?_  She thought, her body still shaking no matter how desperately she wanted it to stop.  _Who was that…human?_

Was that really a human? He looked human, nothing had screamed Gem or any other alien species. But the amount of panic and dread he was able to cause her was something she had only experienced from the Diamonds. The weight she had felt crushing her only moments before was something that could only come from beings of extreme power and immense hatred.

So how could a human make her feel such things?

And it was then she remembered the blood from the store. Even though the…person's clothes had the red liquid on them, she knew that he was not the one who got injured. There was no way a being that malevolent could be hurt so easily

Which meant that the blood belonged to a human. And that the person she had just seen was most likely responsible for hurting said human.

And she had to find out what had happened and where the human was.

She ran back into the store, rushing past the boxes and opening doors as quickly as possible, and jumping over the counter before reaching the wagon. She reached for one of the brown paper bags and pulled out her tablet, intent on sending a message to Steven about-.

About…

She did not type a single letter, to wrapped up in her thoughts now. What exactly was she supposed to write? Yes, a human had been hurt, but by what she did not exactly know. The "what" part was very important, because fighting an enemy without knowing their capabilities was suicidal. The horrifying emotions she had just lived through…could they actually be caused by a human? There was a slim possibility that her mind had over-exaggerated the sensations and fears her body went through due to all the turmoil of trying to find the unknown Rogue Gem. If so, then she should be able to handle this, as she did not want to look like a fool in front of the other Gems. If this was just a human, then she could handle him with ease.

But if the person she saw wasn't human, then what?

She was not sure what type of alien the man could be, since the only thing she could say with one hundred percent certainty was his gender, or even if he was in fact not of this world. The most obvious answer if he was an alien was a Gem, as they were the only alien species remotely close enough to visit Earth. But the man she had seen was not like any Gem species of Homeworld, so that was quickly ruled out. And why would an obviously deadly creature like him not mercilessly kill anything and everything that irritated it? It was clear from the contempt radiating from every stride the being took it loathed every human around it, harboring zero feelings of happiness or sympathy. The animosity beneath his cold eyes was proof of this fact. And if Peridot's fears were in fact accurate and he was as dangerous as she believed, then if she contacted Steven and Lapis, she would be putting them in a hopeless situation that would end with their deaths.

She would not do that to her friends. She would not throw away all of their lives to that…monster.

There were too many unknowns. Not knowing how strong or what abilities the man held. Or what species the seemingly human looking yet hate ridden being was.

She needed answers. She needed them right now or else everyone she loved might die.

_I have to follow him,_  the thought made her entire body shiver as a deadly cold seemed to wrap itself around her figure. The fear from that one thought spreading throughout her very core was mind-numbing, but she still pressed on.  _I have to surveil him and find out everything I can._

It was very risky and very stupid…but she had to do it. Information on the unknown entity could quite literally save lives. If it got too dangerous then in a worst case scenario, she'd call the others for back up and hope they could defeat this man. He, whether human or not, was a threat, and she needed to figure out what he was planning to do.

She would not fight him under any circumstances. She would just observe him and report her findings back to her friends. They would then deliberate on what to do about this man.

But right now, she did not have any more time to waste because the man was getting farther and farther away from her. So, she began to type on her table yet again.

_STEVEN, I MIGHT BE A LITTLE LATE. I'M INVESTIGATING SOMETHING IMPORTANT._

She wanted to say more, but she did not want to worry either of her friends now. If she did tell them, they might try to convince her not to go. But she had too.

She had seen a creature so horrifying that words could not describe. Steven and Lapis had not seen what she'd seen, so only she knew how dangerous the man was. If she waited for them, there was a very high chance she would never see this being ever again. And she had to figure out where the injured human was.

If the obviously powerful monster was not hurting the humans walking around him, there might be a chance that whatever human was in the store might be alive.

She grabbed her tablet against her chest, letting out a shaky breath as she steeled herself.

_Don't mess up Peridot,_  and with that thought, she ran out of the store.

* * *

Had the circumstances been different, Josuke might have thought New Jersey as a nice place to live in. Unfortunately, right now he was busy cursing the city and all of its people.

He had been running for at least an hour, having to ask several people for directions to the bus he needed to get on. Josuke had only memorized parts of the map that stated the routes to get to Beach City, and since he lost his map in his fight against Let Me Live, he had no clue where to go now.

How was it that every single moment he was in this world, things only seemed to grow worse and worse? The anger within him was growing, and he was having trouble at not shouting to some of the ruder people he asked for help. There was a fire in his chest that became hotter with each passing second, and he realized at some point he had clenched his hands into fists.

And while most of his fury was directed at the murderer he hated with every fiber of his soul, a part of it was aimed at himself. He could still hear the voices of Shigechi and the spirits, and now their words stung worse than the first time he heard them.

Running down an alley, Josuke tried to push those thoughts away; and as he ran, he saw two people standing on the walls of the alley. They saw Josuke running and pushed off the wall and then blocked his path, Josuke now forced to stop running as he stared at the two men. One was a rather bulky brown-haired man, taller than Josuke and wearing a leather jacket that was a size too small along with a white shirt underneath and blue jeans; the man's muscles were bulging from underneath his tight clothes. The other had fewer muscles and was about Josuke's height, but was lean and had on a black t-shit and brown cargo pants.

And both were openly sneering at Josuke, eyes narrowed and full of contempt.

"You lost, boy?" The bulky one asked in English, still glaring, and Josuke returned it with his own heated stare.

"I don't want any trouble," The purple-haired teenager replied.

"Heh, what do you know, he speaks our language. With his looks, I thought he was just another piece of shit bastard who can't speak even a little English." The one in the black shirt said, now giving Josuke a cruel smirk. Neither man moved out of Josuke's path. It took all his self-control not to explode on the man. He began to walk forward.

"Let me pass." It was not a request, and so help him if they refused.

"Yeah, I don't think so, this is our turf, and you best go back from where you came from. Unless of course, you'd be willing to empty your pockets." The bigger man replied, also walking towards Josuke along with his friend until each man was only a few feet away.

"You do not want to piss me off today." Josuke's voice was dangerously low, but the other two men actually laughed when the words left his mouth.

"Oh, and what are you gonna do about, you son of a bitch? Cry back to your mama?" The smaller asshole said.

And that was when Josuke felt the fire within him triple in size. He channeled the energy rushing through him, and Crazy Diamond materialized right next to its master, rapidly traveling forward through the air as it pulled its fist back. Not that these two fuckers saw it.

_**"DORA!"**_  His Stand twirled in the air before delivering a right hook that moved so fast it blurred. Its fist landed right on the smaller asshole's cheek, and his expression morphed from one of smug confidence to pain and pants-shitting terror. The impact of Crazy Diamond's fist caused his right eye to bulge out of his socket, teeth flying out of his mouth like bullets as the sound of bones breaking echoed like the boom from a jet engine.

And the man was sent flying to the side, his body taking off like a rocket as it crashed into the black brick walls of the alley, his body rebounding off the bricks and crashing head first into the hood of a dumpster. His body then bounced off the lid of the dumpster and crashed onto the cold ground with his back, his disfigured and bloody face now looking up at the sky as tears mixed with his own blood.

This all happened in a matter of seconds.

The other thug jaw dropped at seeing his friend's bones seemingly implode by themselves. "What the fuc-?!"

He never finished as Josuke slammed his own fist into the roided out punk's gut. Even with all his muscles, the purple haired teen's fist caused the man to buckle over, blood and spittle flying out his mouth. Josuke wasn't done as he launched a sharp cross that hit the punk right in the center of his face, blood erupting from his ugly face as Josuke felt his nose snap like a twig. The man was sent careening through the air until he too hit the dumpster, and landing right on top of his friend who let out an anguish-filled scream.

Josuke once again began to walk down the alley, a disturbing an eerie calm enveloping the teenager as he hopped over the two men with even sparing them a glance.

"Let this be a warning to you two shitheads," Josuke said, his voice unusually cold as his expression was completely apathetic. Crazy Diamond faded from this world as Josuke no longer needed it. "Next time think twice before acting like complete idiots." He turned his head back to the two bleeding and thugs, giving them a glare with eyes that promised death and torture should they try anything like this again. Were he not so angry from his recent experiences, he might have held back a little.

But right now, he did not care, and it felt good to let out his anger, even if he did get a tad carried away.

The bulky one, by this point the only one conscious, gave a shaky and fearful nod of his head, still not moving off his friend's bleeding and unconscious body. He turned away from the thugs and continued to walk down the alley, almost at the end now, when he heard a voice.

_**"** **Look over here, you fucking piece of shit."** _

Somehow the fury within in him got even bigger, he turned around as his expression now held a blazing rage. "What was that!?" He growled out.

The bulky one physically recoiled at Josuke's murderous features, quickly shaking his head. "Tha-that wasn't me!"

Before Josuke could even say anything, he heard it.

It was faint, and had it not been so quiet he would have never heard it, but thankfully he did. The sound was like the ticking noise of an alarm clock, but more metallic and harsh. Craning his neck, Josuke saw what was making the noise.

Down near the mouth of the alley were Josuke came from was a small, sphere-shaped object that was only slightly bigger than a softball. On its feet were two pairs of tank treads, and on the top of its head was a round, brown knob. The knob, as well as the rest of its body, was covered in teal armor plates, and at its face was a grey, cat like-skull with an open jaw and pointy yet tiny nose.

Josuke instantly recognized what that small car like object was. Killer Queen's second bomb.

Sheer Heart Attack.

Before he could call Crazy Diamond back into existence, Sheer Heart Attack charged forward, moving through the alley with the speed of a race car. Josuke's eyes could barely keep track of it, to him it looked like the spherical machine of death was blurring out of existence. Josuke's eyes widened as before he knew it, Sheer Heart Attack was on top of the bulky thug's face, its tracks right on top of the man's eyes.

"Wha-What the hell's going on!?" The thug shouted, hands clawing at the invisible object on his face. "Something's on me! What the fuck is-!?"

Before the punk could finish, Sheer Heart Attack's tank treads came to life. The treads moved at great speed, and the man's eyeballs were crushed in a matter of seconds. The fluid of his eyes along with his blood shot into the air, the man's eyeballs now destroyed. The tracks continued to move at even higher speeds, this time crushing the flesh of the man's face as more bits and pieces of skin were flung to the alley walls.

And the thug screamed an anguished and horrible scream, desperately clawing at the invisible thing on his face.

And the Sheer Heart Attack exploded.

It was a far bigger explosion than its previous explosions, even though Josuke was at least ten feet away from the thug, he was still swallowed by intense plumes of fire. His already burnt clothes were once again singed as the shockwaves of the explosion sent him careening right out of the alley all the way to the streets at the other side.

Josuke's back slid across the hard road until he eventually stopped. His back now felt like it had all of its skin removed as the rest of his body was now burning from the scorching flames that it just came into contact with.

He quickly got up, taking in his surroundings. He was in one of the main, large roads of the city, several buildings and different types of vehicles surrounded the busy streets. People were screaming as they ran for their lives; they had seen the explosion, which was hard to miss as the flames now extended out of the alley and towards the sky, he saw the walls of the building now on fire. Like any normal person, most were getting the hell out of the area, some of them calling 911, the equivalent of 119 back in Japan.

But Josuke did not run. Instead, he stared at the alley he just flew out of, Crazy Diamond floating right next to its master.

Out from the columns of flames, Sheer Heart Attack slowly rolled out of the alley and into the road. Both Stand User and the second bomb of Killer Queen now stood on opposite curbs.

_**"Josuke** **Higashiakta, I hope you ready to die."**_  Sheer Heart Attacks voice echoed, even amongst the screams of so many people.

Josuke glared at the tiny machine. "I was about to say the same to you."

* * *

Kira had been careless.

It was strange to say that about himself. He always took precautions and was not a man who would normally take risks, but he would admit that in his latest kill he had been too hasty. Perhaps he did not have as much control over his impulses as he would have liked.

And now a tiny green alien was following him because of his desires.

He had just returned home from his trip to the beach, and a few hours later he had decided to do some shopping since he was running a little low on food.

But all thoughts on food were stopped when he saw the clerk's hands.

They were astounding, a pair that seemed to shine with an otherworldly beauty. Kira had seen other hands like this before, rare hands that were in his eyes were as close to perfect as possible. Each line of her delicate fingers, excellent size, and exquisite warm palms reminded him so much of Mona Lisa.

He had to ask her to be his companion.

So when she placed an "On Break" sign on the counter before walking into the employees only room, Kira flipped the sign on the outside of the door to "closed" and quickly entered the back room. And before she could even get a word in, he blew her to ashes. With the exception of one single, gorgeous hand. He did not have to worry about cameras, because Kira had found out after previous visits that this store did not own even a single camera. The other employees here were incredibly foolish.

He then walked out of the back room, blood now dripping down the only remains of the woman and onto the counter. He imagined all of the fun ways to spend time with his new girlfriend when he heard footsteps from outside. Looking to the right towards the entrance door, he saw the shadow of someone standing right outside.

In less than a second, he ran and entered the back room, just before he heard the door open. Gazing through a small crack in the door, he at first saw no one at all. But he heard movement throughout the store none the less, and stayed in his position, wanting to make sure he did not have anyone following him. He might have been paranoid, but for all the serial killer knew this person might be acquaintances with the woman he just killed. And Kira did not want to leave any loose ends this time, so he waited. For several minutes, he had footsteps and the sound of wheels turning before he saw a tiny woman with incredibly pointy hair climb onto the counter.

And judging by the gem on her forehead and green skin, he knew instantly this woman must have been a Crystal Gem. But unfortunately, she was one of the Gems who he knew little about, and that included her powers.

Hearing her scream at someone to assist her, he quickly determined that she was not an acquaintance of the clerk he just murdered, and he doubted she caught even a glimpse of him before he retreated to the back room. So, he was about to leave, when his eyes caught something on the counter.

A small puddle of blood.

He looked down at his companion's hand and realized it was still bleeding, droplets of blood now forming on the floor. He mentally cursed at himself, he should have made Killer Queen completely cauterize the hand so not even a single drop of blood escaped. But he didn't, because he thought the hand would look so much better with fresh blood covering it.

And now, that decision might just lead to a rather troublesome situation.

Not wanting to fight anyone, he quickly put away the right hand in his right pocket, wrapping it in a handkerchief so it wouldn't bleed through the soft material of his coat. He then left through another door that led outside, just as she heard the small Gem shout to see if anyone needed her aide.

He needed to hurry up, now.

He went into a light jog, not too fast and not to slow so he didn't draw anyone's eyes to him, and was now on an opposing street curb calmly walking away from the scene of a crime. His expression showed nothing but the blank look of a businessman, and he was prepared to go home and relax with his new darling.

Until he felt a pair of eyes gazing right at him.

Kira's instincts were fine-tuned, after years of committing murders, he always knew when someone was looking at him. And those instincts had gotten an upgrade ever since he had been hunted by other Stand Users back in Morioh; so he knew that if a tiny voice in his mind told him someone was watching him, someone most definitely was.

He spared a glance in the general direction of the store and saw something that surprised him greatly.

It was the little green Gem, but what got his attention was the fact she was trembling. Not shaking from the slight cold breeze, but actively quivering with fear as though she had just seen a demon rise from the depths of hell. Even from though he was far away from her, he could practically feel the dread and nightmarish terror swirling in her eyes.

Kira would have smirked if he wasn't currently analyzing this situation, and for the first time in a long time worry rose in his chest. The pure horror and shock the tiny woman was displaying while staring right at him could only mean one thing.

She saw him. Not as a regular person who had the same worries and dreams as any other human being, but as a monster that loved to hurt and kill.

He couldn't believe it, and his body acted on its own as he continued to walk away with the same reserved expression, while in his mind he was in a bit of a panic. How? How could someone possibly figure out what he was with but a glance? He had spent years of maintaining a perfectly average exterior, and no one noticed, not even Josuke or his friends until he accidentally revealed himself, and yet somehow one girl was able to figure it out in an instant.

He stopped walking, eye narrowing as his fingers grabbed the corpse hand in his pocket. He could not let her live, not when she knew who he was now. Killing her would definitely raise more questions, especially those that belonged to the other Crystal Gems, but he couldn't let that annoyance go and tell her friends. If he was careful, no one should notice she was gone for at least a day.

So just as he was about to go back to the store, form the corner of his eye, he saw her. Crouching behind a mailbox at the end of the street curb. He instantly wondered what she was doing, and the answer came almost immediately.

She was following him.

For whatever reason, instead of running back to her friends, she was following him even though she had seen what he truly was. He had no idea why, maybe it was out of pride, but the point was he didn't have to go after her.

Instead, she would follow him of her own volition.

So, he adjusted his suit and continued to walk. An hour passed, the sun setting as the bright colors of the day began to turn to twilight. He arrived near the edge of town, the woods not far away as the tiny women still followed him. Around this area no one really passed by because there weren't too many houses or stores.

Eventually he arrived at his desired location. A butcher shop with the a for sale sign taped to the glass window. The owner had to sell his shop because business wasn't that good, which was sad because Kira enjoyed the ribs here.

He arrived at the front door, unsurprisingly it was locked, but Kira summoned the arm of Killer Queen. The arm of his stand overlaid with his own, and to him, it was like Killer Queen's arm had become his. He brought his hand up to the lock, touched it, and then raised his left thumb before bringing it down. There was a tiny spark, and then a small sizzling sound as from the interior of the lock, smoke began to filter out and swirl into the air in front of Kira. He opened the now unlocked door and entered the building.

Several glass display cases that once held different cuts of meat were now barren, the lights long since turned off as he continued to walk. He ventured further into the back of the store, now standing in front of a large metallic door. Once again, he brought his hand to the lock, and once again he exploded the inner working of the device as more smoke plumed into existence.

He opened the door and entered the meat locker of the store. It was large; it could have passed as a small parking lot, the meat and everything else was taken out of the room already except for the metallic hooks that hung from girders on the ceiling.

He then walked behind the back of the door and waited.

And the little green woman walked into the room, eyes searching for Kira.

He slammed the door as hard as he could. The Gem gave a terrified squeak, jumping a good twenty feet away as Kira calmly stared down at her.

He noticed she was shaking. And the freezer for the meat locker had long since been turned off.

"Hello," he said, giving her a courteous smile as she clutched something against her chest. It looked like a tablet, maybe an IPad.

"Don't "hello" me!" She growled, trying to sound intimidating, but she was spectacularly failing with her squeaky voice and tiny frame. She was just so adorable, thinking she could scare him. "What are your plans?! What have you've been doing in Beach City?! What…?!"

Kira was quickly learning that the Gem in front of him loved to talk. A seemingly never-ending stream of question flew out of her mouth. The tiny girl showed no signs of stopping, and he wondered if she needed to breathe because she seemed to be talking without taking any breaths in-between words.

Then one question caught his ear.

"What have you done to the human in the store you visited?!"

His smile grew wider, teeth peeking out from his mouth as he instantly grabbed the hand from his pocket and held it out.

That got her to stop, her eyes widening as she took a step back. Sweat was beginning to drip down her forehead; he saw despair and horror welling in her expression. He savored it, because why shouldn't he enjoy the terror of a girl who had actually made him panic? The girl who dared to make him worry, even if it was for only a second.

Then, without warning, his smile vanished as his serious and apathetic features returned. He gently threw the hand at the tiny women, and she dodged it as the corpse hand quickly landed right next to her.

"My name is Kira Yoshikage," He began, eyes now void of any emotion.

"Tha…That answers one of my questions." The tiny girl said in a voice that reeked of fear.

"I am 33 years old, and have been living in Beach City for three months now." He continued, his mouth now a deep frown.

"I did not ask wha-."

"Currently, I'm unemployed, but money right now is not a problem. I live in the abandoned house located just outside the edge of the woods." He interrupted, walking in front of the door as the tiny girl took a step back. The fear radiating off her was almost tangible by this point.

"After a week of living in this town, I went to the beach. It was the first time I have ever been to the ocean, and the sand felt nice between my toes as I walked along the shore."

"What are-."

"I like to cut my fingernails; I believe my luck revolves around the size of my nails, so I put them in jars and write down their length as I feel it's always wise to keep track of one's luck." He took a single step forward and the little girl actually let out a shriek as she jumped back again. Her entire body was trembling, so badly that Kira noted she was having trouble standing.

"Why are you-."

"Until recently, I have been having trouble falling asleep. Though thankfully now, I sleep like a baby who had a glass of warm milk. Even from my house, I can hear the waves cracking against the ocean, and I believe the calmness of the sea is one of the reasons why I can sleep so much better now." Though, it was far from the main reason as to why.

The alien girl in front of him now looked like a poor, defenseless animal cornered by an alpha predator.

"STOP!" She shouted, taking a few more steps back

"I have grown rather fond of this town. Though there are some things that I dislike about it. You see, I want to live a quiet life, but aliens and other supernatural incidents happen here on a near daily basis, and all that excitement and hostility is a bit cumbersome when one is trying to live as quietly as I. Though, this town is still excellent in all other regards." He took another step forward, this time releasing a bit of his killing intent that was begging to be released by now. The Gem reacted instantly, now dropping to the floor as her body quivered and trembled even worse than before.

"Yes, I just want to live a tranquil life…and if someone were to dare try and take that life away from me, well…" His eyes gleamed with so much bloodlust he could almost physically see it. The Gem's eyes grew wider, the fear only increasing and reaching heights no human could ever hope to match.

"That would make me rather cross." He unleashed all the killing intent welling within his very soul, a dark purple aura surrounding him. The alien on the floor could no longer look at him; instead, choosing to stare at the floor as she raised her arm as if to block some kind of blow. She was trembling so badly that her visor had slipped off.

"Why… Why are you telling me this?" She asked in a voice that was deathly quiet. So unlike all the loud shouting and boasting from before.

Kira let out a tiny, almost caring smile.

"Because you aren't going to live long enough to tell anyone."

And at that moment, the little alien on the floor had reminded him so much of Shigechi.

_To Be Continued~_


	7. Fireworks Spectacular

Steven was worried.

At first, Steven could not have been happier. After he had left the barn, he had been stuffing his cheeseburger backpack with as many drinks, some money Pearl had left for him to take, and as many snacks as he could fit into his bag. It was then he had decided to text Peridot, who was still out shopping, about their change of plans. She had almost immediately responded, clearly just as excited as Steven.

However, as he had been packing, he received another text message from the green Gem. And this one was vastly different from the last one.

_STEVEN, I MIGHT BE A LITTLE LATE. I'M INVESTIGATING SOMETHING IMPORTANT._

That message made Steven uneasy. He did not know why, but when he finished reading that message, a coldness wrapped around his body. Peridot's text did not seem to be anything too worrisome, but the feeling of dread that was slowly rising in his stomach made Steven bite his lower lip. For some reason, Steven was beginning to imagine that Peridot might have been in some kind of trouble.

He shook his head to rid himself of such ridiculous thoughts. Peridot was out shopping, what kind of trouble could she possibly get into? She had probably just seen some kind of tool or maybe a new plushy that had caught her eye. Even though there was an unknown Gem monster still on the loose, the chances of Peridot encountering it were slim to none.

And if she really did see something dangerous, she would have told him and he and Lapis would have rushed to help her. So, Steven read the text as Peridot just saying she was caught up in something, and might not be able to meet up with him and Lapis on time. Which wasn't a very big deal, since there was still time before they had to leave. So, he put his phone away, went upstairs and turned on his GameCube and waited for Peridot to arrive from her trip to his town.

An hour passed, and Steven stopped playing his video games, climbing down from his bed and walking towards the window near the entrance to his house. Peridot still wasn't back yet, and the sky was beginning to darken. Peridot knew what time all three of them had to leave by, so she should have been back to the beach house by now. No matter what she had seen, Peridot would never willingly miss out on something both she and Steven had planned out.

He checked his phone again, not seeing any new messages. Peridot should have texted him earlier if she was going to be this late. So why hadn't she sent him even one message?

The only reason Steven could think of was that she couldn't text him.

He didn't know when, but he realized his breathing had become rather labored. His throat felt dry as he rushed to the nearest Warp Pad. He thought that maybe Peridot had gone straight to the barn instead of his home, that maybe she was just talking with Lapis and waiting for Steven to get there.

But when he arrived at the barn with only Lapis present, he knew something was wrong.

Dread slithered in his stomach as he almost shouted at Lapis, asking her if Peridot had contacted her. When she told him no, she had obviously noticed the fear on his expression and asked what was wrong. He had quickly explained how Peridot sent him a strange and possibly ominous message and how he hadn't heard from her since.

Lapis rarely ever let anyone see her at her most vulnerable; when she was shocked by something or frightened. She could be as stoic as Garnet at times, most of the time her face was morphed in either dry sarcasm or blank and somewhat emotionless gazes. She had suffered through so much pain that she had learned to put up a cold and uncaring front and would rarely let anyone see how she was really feeling about something.

So when Steven saw her eyes widen and saw fear spreading throughout her face, that was enough to confirm his suspicions. Just like him, Lapis realized that something was going on, and that Peridot might be in some kind of trouble.

"Do you have any idea where Peridot could be?" She asked, worry evident in her words as her voice was unusually low.

"She should be in the town," Steven replied, and before he knew it, droplets of water rose from the wet blades of grass that were planted everywhere around him. The tiny drops flew through the air at great speeds before they began to converge on Lapis' back, slowly taking the shape of her water wings.

"Then what are we waiting for?" She said, her eyes narrowing in on the general direction of Beach City. Her lips were a thin line as Steven saw her expression become deadly serious. The son of Rose Quartz quickly jumped onto Lapis' back and once he had securely wrapped his arms around her small neck, her wings began to move. Soon, Steven and Lapis were slowly lifted off the ground before the blue Gem's water wings began to pick up speed, large gales of wind now emitting from each flap as both Gems shot through the air at intense speeds.

And with each flap, Steven could see the outline of his town getting closer. His mouth was now set in a firm frown as his eyes flared with determination. He would not let the fear and anxiousness building inside his chest distract him from finding Peridot.

And if she was in trouble, he and Lapis would save her; because that was what Crystal Gems do.

_Don't worry Perdiot, we're coming._  He thought as Lapis began to beat her wings with an even greater vigor.

* * *

Josuke wondered how one man's luck could get worse and worse with every passing second.

Standing only dozens of feet away from a mobile and deadly bomb on the opposite side of the street, a small part of him was currently in awe at how every other moment he was in this world, something was trying to kill him. Though, that part was smoldered underneath the burning rage within him. Josuke's expression was in a scowl, his teeth bared and both hands clenched into fists. Crazy Diamond mirrored its master's features as it stood a few feet in front of Jouske.

Around him, the fire from the alley right behind Sheer Heart Attack grew, the flames now spreading to the adjacent buildings and slowly moving towards the street. The hundreds of civilians that were once scattered throughout the road were gone, most leaving their cars behind as they ran away. Josuke was thankful for that fact, the last thing he wanted right now was for more people to die because of Kira's bomb.

_And right now, I can't afford to take my eyes away from that little tank._  He thought as Sheer Heart Attack began to slowly advance forward, the wheels that made up its treads creaking with every turn as it rolled onto the black road from the curb.

_**"Higashikata, you've been lucky so far,"**_ The gravely and deep baritone voice of the sphere-shaped bomb held such murderous hatred Josuke could feel it down to his nerves. But Josuke would not submit to the metallic bomb as his eyes narrowed at Sheer Heart Attack's words.  _ **"Had you faced me from the start, and not Let Me Live, you would have died long ago."**_ Josuke's muscles tensed as Sheer Heart attack continued to move forward.

_**"And had you just died at the hands of the other bomb, you would have been spared the despair and agony you are about to face."**_  Sheer Heart Attack stopped moving; Josuke continued to stare at the metallic bomb. For several seconds, neither he, Crazy Diamond nor Sheer Heart Attack moved. The crackling of the flames was the only sound echoing through the street. Josuke did not even blink as a purple aura enveloped him and his Stand.

And then, Sheer Heart Attack's tank treads began to move. The treads moved with the speed expected more from a car than from such a small sphere, and after a few more moments of the wheels scorching the road it stood on, the bomb moved.

Its speed was truly incredible, there was no warning as Sheer Heart Attack jumped from its spot on the road and jettisoned through the air, right towards Josuke. The miniature bomb was so fast it looked more like a blue-tinted comet as within seconds it was inches away from hitting Josuke's face.

But Josuke still did not blink, his eyes able to follow Sheer Heart Attack as it got closer and closer to his face. Josuke's expression did not change, mouth still set in a firm frown and his features showed no signs of worry.

Because as fast as Sheer Heart Attack was, Crazy Diamond was still faster.

_**"DORARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARA!"** _

With its mighty roar, Crazy Diamond moved right in front of its master in an instant before it threw a bombardment of pink-skinned fists. Its arms were moving so fast they blurred, now looking like a storm of silver crosses and haymaker. Each punch that landed on the tiny bomb's body echoed with a sound that was like steel being slammed by a hammer, the manifestation of Josuke's fighting spirit continued to strike Sheer Heart Attack from every angle and hit every part of its frame. Crazy Diamond attacked with such acceleration it landed hundreds of superhuman hits in just a few seconds.

But even though it was taking such insanely powerful strikes, even though it could do nothing but float in the air as Crazy Diamond continued its onslaught of deadly pink punches that carried the force of a speeding train…Sheer Heart Attack showed no signs of being damaged.

Josuke gnashed his teeth together as he snarled.

_**"DORA!"** _

Crazy Diamond pulled both arms back before delivering a cross to the right side of Sheer Heart Attack's body and then struck the tiny bomb with a blindingly fast uppercut that sent it careening through the air. The bomb was sent spiraling into a parked car two dozen feet away from Josuke, and Sheer Heart Attack pierced through the car's door. A large hole was now present in the vehicle as Josuke took several steps back. He knew what was going to happen.

The car erupted into a fireball of bright red and orange flames. The large explosion easily engulfed the car as well as several other vehicles nearby. The force from the inferno caused the other vehicles to explode, metal and chunks of shrapnel of different shapes and sizes flew into the air. Josuke had his Stand block and deflect any debris that got too close, plumes of fire now swallowing a good portion of the street.

And from the flames, Sheer Heart Attack calmly rolled forward, the columns of intense heat did not even leave a single burn mark on its armor.

_**"Ow,"**_ the metallic bomb said as it exited the plumes of fire and onto a portion of the road that wasn't on fire. " _ **You dumbass, did you really think that would work?"**_

Josuke said nothing; instead both he and Crazy Diamond continued to glare at Sheer Heart Attack with eyes full of rage. Josuke knew that his attacks would most likely do nothing to the tank-like bomb. Crazy Diamond's strength was staggering, but against Sheer Heart Attack, his Stand's strength was useless. The mobile bomb's durability was astounding, it was practically invincible to physical attacks. While Josuke might be able to injure it slightly with Crazy Diamond strength, he could not defeat it with his Stand's physical prowess alone.

_**"I was able to take the punches of Jotaro Kujo's Star Platinum,"**_  the mobile bomb continued, no longer moving and looking at Josuke with its empty, black voids for eyes.  _ **"Your Crazy Diamond is at best as strong as Star Platinum, which means that it can't hurt me any more than Star Platinum could. And that was before I got an upgrade; because now that my master has gotten stronger, my durability is at a level only God could crush!"**_

Josuke glared at the armor-plated bomb, his hands trembling in barely contained fury. "I can't believe I didn't notice your ego the last time I punched your face in. Seriously, you're almost as conceited as the psychotic bastard you call a master."

Instead of responding right away, Sheer Heart Attack paused and said nothing. Josuke could not tell what the mobile bomb was thinking, the skull that acted as its face showed no emotion. The young Stand User was confused as to why the loud and boisterous bomb stopped talking, but he would not let it show on his expression.

Then, Sheer Heart Attack spoke again. And through its voice, Josuke could tell that if it could, the little metallic bomb would be giving him a smug smirk.

" _ **You punched my face in? Is that how it went? Because, for some reason, I can't exactly remember how you beat me."**_ The way the spherical bomb phrased its words made it clear to Josuke that it was mocking him.  _ **"Oh wait, that's right, you didn't beat me. Instead, you had Crazy Diamond send me back to my master's severed hand with its fucking ability."**_ Anger was quickly rising within Sheer Heart Attacks voice as it continued.  _ **"Because of your fucking Stand's powers, after you "fixed" my master's hand, you somehow made it so he could never use me again. But now…"**_

The anger vanished from its words, and then the miniature tank began to laugh. A sickening laugh that ground Josuke's ears, and the laughter only grew louder with each second. The metallic bomb of Killer Queen was almost hysterical, each throaty and coarse chortle Josuke listened to only made his blood boil. His face held berserk gleam, his entire body trembling as Sheer Heart Attack finished its laughter.

" _ **But now, that ability of your Stand is useless against me! There's no hand for you to trap me in this time, Higashikata! Which means there's nothing you can do to defeat me! My master has ascended to levels no other man could reach, and with his new abilities, he has removed all of my past limitations! I no longer get distracted by other meat bags heat signatures, and instead, I am locked on to the shitbag who dared to try and kill Kira Yoshikage!**_

Josuke was tempted to charge in and shut up the arrogant bomb, but he couldn't give into his anger. He needed to form some kind of plan before he acted, otherwise he would get enveloped in explosion after explosion.

Unfortunately, he could not come up with anything at the moment. And it was clear Sheer Heart Attack was getting close to ending its little speech.

" _ **Now, you fucking misbegotten waste of garbage, why don't you just do me a favor and stand still. At least that way, when your sorry ass is dragged to the depths of the underworld, you can say you died on your feet and not sniveling like a little bitch!**_

Both Crazy Diamond and Josuke glared at the tiny bomb with primal, raw hatred; both Stand and master could not have looked angrier. But as much as Josuke hated to admit it, Sheer Heart Attack was partially right. The last time he had encountered the tiny bomb, the only reason he was able to beat it with little effort was that its master had decided to chop of his own hand. Back in his world, Killer Queen's heat-seeking bomb was directly connected to its master's hand, so anything that could actually hurt it would by extension hurt Kira's appendage. So, when he and his friends had cornered him for the first time, he had his own Stand cut off his hand, allowing the tiny bomb to run rampant for as long as it liked without hurting its master.

And that had been one of Kira's most fatal mistakes.

After Jotaro had given him a quick synopsis of its powers, Josuke had Crazy Diamond punch the spherical tank and use its powers on the bomb. Sheer Heart Attack was a manifestation of Kira's energy, born from his left hand and so both his hand and the tiny bomb were connected. Crazy Diamond's ability was to revert anything back to a previous state, which was why when Crazy Diamond used its abilities on the bomb, Kira's hand was also enveloped in a yellow aura due to its link with Sheer Heart Attack. The severed hand flew away to go reattach to Kira, to reform back into its original being.

However, Sheer Heart Attack was also caught up in his Stand's power. Since it was born from Kira's fighting spirit, under normal circumstances, Josuke would be unable to revert it back to its former state. But, since he had successfully "fixed" Kira's hand, the connection the appendage had to the tiny bomb allowed him to cheat with his own powers. Essentially, he had been able to abuse the bond Sheer Heart Attack had to Kira's left hand, and because of the connection, it allowed his powers to revert Sheer Heart Attack back into spiritual energy.

And thanks to his slight boost in power, even though it lasted for less than a second, he was able to make it so that Sheer Heart Attack could never take corporeal form again. By reverting it back into a state of energy where not even Kira himself could possible put back together unless he was willing to spend at least a year trying to undo what Josuke did.

Josuke had morphed and changed the energy Kira needed to summon Sheer Heart Attack and had sealed it. But unfortunately, Kira had repaired the little metallic hell spawn thanks to his sudden increase in strength. And without a severed hand to "fix" this time, Josuke would have to think of a new way to beat Sheer Heart Attack.

His eyes looked around the street, the growing pillars of flame enveloped more and more portions of the road and nearby buildings. He needed to find something to help him out, something to give him inspiration for a plan. But there was nothing on the street that could possibly help him defeat the indestructible bomb-.

Suddenly, his eyes moved down towards his feet, and he saw all the ruined and burned car parts that his Stand had deflected. His hand reached down and grabbed one of the parts, a dented and crispy handlebar that looked like it belonged to a-.

His eyes widened as a single idea lit up his mind. There was one thing he could do, one action he had chosen not to use unless he was absolutely desperate. One last trump card that he had saved for when he had no other options.

Gripping the handlebars tightly, he gave a tiny smirk to the tiny bomb across the street. "You know, that's pretty funny."

_**"What is?"**_ Sheer Heart Attack asked, its voice carrying hints of an anger begging to be released.

"That you called me a piece of garbage when your nothing but a glorified walking tin can. I mean, have you ever seen yourself in a mirror?"

_**"Say that again you fucking son of a whore."**_ Sheer Heart Attack took a small strode forward, fury evident in every word it spoke. Josuke smirk only grew wider before he continued.

"You heard me you garbage can on wheels, I just pointed out the obvious." Josuke took a couple of steps forward, Crazy Diamond quickly positioning itself right next to its master as the young Stand user stopped and pointed a thumb at himself. "And if your stupid enough to think that I don't have other ways of kicking your ass, then you're in for a world of pain." Josue could tell that each word he spoke was making the metal bomb madder, he could hear the enraged growls coming from its skull mouth as the wheels of its tank treads slowly came to life. "So why don't you just shut up already and fight, unless of course…" Josuke trailed off, the treads on Sheer Heart Attack now leaving small dents on the street as they only moved faster, yet the bomb remained stationary. But with one more push, the bomb would go ballistic. "You're scared of me?"

And those four words were the last push Sheer Heart Attack needed.

_**"YOU FUCKING RETARDED BASTARD!"** _

Sheer Heart Attack took off from its spot on the road like a metallic bird, traveling through the air right towards Josuke. The young Stand User was not nervous in the slightest as his grip on the handlebars tightened.

"Crazy Diamond!" Josuke shouted, his Stand activating its ability and the handlebar became surrounded in a yellow aura. Just as Sheer Heart Attack was about to crash into Josuke, the purple-haired teenager was hoisted off the ground by the handlebars and flying through the air. Josuke's body flew right above Sheer Heart Attack, the bomb just missing his legs as it crashed into the building behind him. An explosion detonated from the wall of the building, plumes of flames burning its surface and sending chunks of debris soaring into the air. Josuke could feel the heat from the large fireball on his skin, but he escaped the flames with only a few burns. He continued to grip onto the flying handlebars, below him on the ground he saw several parts of a vehicle clattering forward, bright yellow energy surrounding the dozens of different types of machinery. The pieces of metal began to take shape near the middle of the street, wheels merging with axles, an engine covered by glossy black metal coating and cylinders rebuilding themselves from their damaged states. The vehicle needed just one more part to be complete as the handlebars Josuke was riding on descended back to the ground.

Josuke had softly landed on the seat of a nearly rebuilt motorcycle, and then the handlebars flew out of his hands before screwing itself into the front of the vehicle, now fully repaired. Josuke had no idea what model it was, only knowing it was jet black and had a windscreen at its face, but that did not matter right now.

What mattered was that this bike was the key to enacting his plan.

_**"What the fuck are you doing?"**_  Sheer Heart Attack surged out from the now large hole of the building, skidding to a stop on the road as it looked at Josuke with its black sockets for eyes.

"Playing my trump card!" He shouted, a key covered in a yellow aura floated right next to him as Josuke grabbed it out of the air and slammed it into the ignition. The motorcycle roared to life, engine blaring with a deafening vroom and headlights illuminating the dark road.

_**"What trump card!?"** _

Josuke's mouth curled into a grin, hands grabbing the twin throttles of the bike and twisting them as hard as he could. The exhaust pipes released a smog of black gas as the engine gave a fearsome roar.

"RUNNING AWAY!" Josuke shouted above the bellows of his bike before it took off. The motorcycle moved like a demonic beast, speeding down the streets so quickly that the surrounding buildings around Josuke became obscure and unfocused. Once he reached the intersection of the road, he turned at even faster speeds, the bike leaning to the left as his body almost touched the road. Crazy Diamond pushed off the streets with both hands just as Josuke would have touched the road, the momentum propelling both himself and the bike back up and into a normal riding position. Josuke was now speeding through a busy road of cars and other bikers as he let out a breath he did not know he was holding.

His trump card had actually worked. He was surprised getting the hell out of dodge was so effective, but at least he could now put some distance between him and the tiny bomb. He just needed some time to think of a counter attack and then-

_**"GYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"** _

A demented screech interrupted his thoughts. And the scream was heavy with pure rage; Josuke could feel the hatred radiating from the voice as he glanced behind him.

From the junction he had just came from, Sheer Heart Attack raced out and slammed into an oncoming car, knocking the much large vehicle onto its side as sparks and flames erupted from the car. The tiny bomb was moving at great speeds, almost as fast as his bike and it only seemed to move faster with each second. Josuke saw Sheer Heart Attack getting closer, and immediately pushed the bike to its limits, now moving so fast he looked like a black and purple blur. Even though the road was abundant with other cars, Josuke felt like he was alone as Sheer Heart Attack continued to chase him down.

_So much for gaining distance._  And with that thought, his bike turned and accelerated down another street. Sheer Heart Attack was quick to follow.

* * *

Death.

That was the only way to describe what she was facing. A man whose very being was misery and hopelessness incarnate, who could spread despair with just a glance. Someone no one could stand a chance against, the only outcome to facing this man was a slow and painful demise. The Diamonds, the Cluster, everything with some form of power Peridot had faced was no match for this being when it came to the terror they induced in others. Every part of her was openly trembling; she could feel the fear ebbing away at her mind. The menacing gaze the man was giving her only made her think of all the ways she was going to suffer. She knew this man was serious when she said she wasn't going to live, and those words only caused her to realize how much pain she was about to go through. About how she was going…to die.

_I'm going to die; my gem is going to shatter into thousands of pieces and then my mind will be just a catacomb of primal instincts!_

Peridot had never thought it would have been possible to feel someone murder her without so much as lifting a finger. Even the Diamonds paled in comparison to the sheer killing intent this man seemed to wear like a comfortable cloak.

She had no idea how long she was trembling, her knees starting to ache after staying in such an uncomfortable position for so long, but her body was still shaking just as fiercely as when it had begun.

Then, the man who identified himself as the Kira spoke. "The" because there was no way anything else in existence could possibly be like this man.

"I never would have thought aliens would be so puny; nor would I have believed that with but a few words, they'd be reduced to pathetic sniveling wrecks." She didn't even need to look up to know there'd be a smirk on his lips. Not that she could look up with all the pressure crushing her body; she could almost see the maliciousnes firmly embedded in each word the Kira spoke. Never had she felt such fear and dread like this in her entire life. "The day I first saw you Gems was the first time I had ever seen real aliens, and I thought for one moment that you might be actual threats. But seeing how none of you have yet to grasp what has been happening to this town's people, and seeing you whimpering like a sad little child who's lost her parents…" He trailed off, Peridot could hear the man take small steps forward, and with her eyes still trained to the ground, she knew the Kira was standing right next to her. "I think it's safe to say that you fools will-."

"What do you mean by that?"

She was surprised she had interrupted the Kira, surprised she had even been able to speak coherently despite the nightmarish terror coiling around her throat.

"I'm not sure I understand your question." The dangerous killer was most likely raising one of his eyebrows if the slight hint of confusion in his voice was any indication.

"You said that the Crystal Gems were the first real aliens you have ever seen…but that would mean that you have never been outside this world." Her body was still flooded with dread, still shaking from the overwhelming fear, but she somehow pushed past her despair as her mind began to fill with questions. There was something in the Kira's words, something her analytical brain tried to dissect because that information would greatly help her in her current situation. She forced herself to focus on the statements the Kira had just said and not on the terror sweeping through her body.

She was missing something important, and it greatly irritated her.

"Technically you might be the second aliens I have ever encountered; I never did quite figure out what Mikitaka was." He paused, seeming to contemplate on this "Mikitaka" before he continued. "But you Gems are what I consider to be the textbook definition of extraterrestrial life. And the answer to the second part of your question is a firm no. I doubt any human being on this earth can honestly say they've been to other planets, at least the ones who aren't deluded or crazy."

That last sentence immediately caught Peridot's attention. The fear coursing through her body gave way to an immense feeling of pure shock. The emotions of bewilderment and irritation disappeared because the Kira had just given her the information her mind desperately tried to figure out.

"You said "any human being" but…that would mean…that you're a…" She could not get the words out, her mouth barely capable of moving right now.

"A human?" the absurdly strong being in front of her asked before giving a small chuckle. "Yes, I am."

Her eyes widen with those words, practically bulging out of her sockets, though the Kira could not see it because she was still staring at the floor. The hostility, the absolute mind-melting horror that this man controlled like an obedient pet, the unmitigated malevolence that seemed to make up this man's very being…was a human?!

She would have laughed were she not busy shaking as if her very body was crumbling before her. The shock slowly faded from her body as fear returned with a violent vengeance.

"I suppose I can't blame you for thinking otherwise. You did see me, the real me that is, and seeing someone so cruel and vicious probably made it hard to believe that I could be a human. You should feel proud; even your friends didn't notice the monster walking in their own town." The Kira's voice was packed with faux kindness; Peridot knew that the only reason the man who dripped with murderous intent was even answering her questions was because he believed he could and would kill her at any second. So he was enjoying her attempts at figuring out what he was, and he would enjoy it when all her new knowledge of him vanished along with her life.

"I am aware that from your perspective, humanity seems fragile and weak, that we're so kind and foolish and could be destroyed with but a thought." She could not deny that. She had those same thoughts when she had first arrived on earth, and while her hatred had subsided, she did still believe that human beings, with the exception of Steven and possibly Greg, were a feeble and an unremarkable race. Clearly, she could not have been more wrong. "The truth is, though, humanity is a race that loves death and despair. We thrive off of other people's misery because it makes us feel better that someone else is suffering instead of us. Some of us even take satisfaction in causing other people's sorrow because it gives us a pleasant feeling that spreads to our souls. The only difference between other humans and I is that I act on my urges while others choose to ignore them because they are weak."

Peridot listened to each and every word the Kira said, still unable to even lift her head up as her body continued to quiver. Each word that left from the dangerous man before her was laced with thick malevolence, the Kira doing his best and succeeding in making the green Gem more fearful of him with each passing second. If anyone had told her before she left Homeworld that a human would be more frightful than any of the Diamonds, she would have asked if their gem was cracked because there was no way any human like that existed.

But she had met said human, and every part of her wanted to run away from him, but she couldn't. Her limbs would not obey her, paralyzed by the unimaginable levels of contempt this man was drilling into her very core with just his words. She was going to be killed by this human, she was going to be killed by someone who belonged to a race that should be incapable of such cruelty. This human…

This…Human…

Suddenly, she remembered a very basic fact that she had overlooked due to all the agonizing horror she was going through. If this Kira was human, then that meant he also shared the same weaknesses as the rest of his race. Steven and the other Gems had told her a somewhat detailed summary of human biology, and the green Gem had taken excessive mental notes on their lecture. Human beings were far weaker regarding physical strength than Gems; their bodies were not as durable as any species from Homeworld. All it took to either kill or knock them out was a good hit to certain areas to their bodies. Areas she had memorized.

_If I can land a hit before he can react…_

Laying beneath the expansive mass of terror that consumed her were the faint embers of hope. This human was powerful, his very presence screeched lethal doses of cold, uncaring malice, but he was still human. They had no special abilities to protect them from deadly attacks, and while the Kira was the most threatening and horrifying person she had ever met, she just needed one chance.

One chance, and she would live and could get to Steven and Lapis and then they would help her deal with the Kira. Maybe she could defeat him by herself here and now, but she needed to move now!

"I've enjoyed our little chat, but I think I'm afraid this is the end." The finality in his voice told Peridot he was about to make his move and when he did, she would be dead.

_Come on Peridot, Move!_

She pushed aside her fear, the despair coursing through her body vanished as she focused on nothing but winning this battle. She ceased her shaking with nothing but her own willpower as she thought about all of her friends. She would not let this monster win, she would not let him hurt her friends!

She picked her visor off the floor, placed it firmly back on her face, and for the first time picked her head up and glared right into the man's apathetic and nauseating terror-inducing eyes. She could feel a ferocious deamination entering her eyes, a burning conviction welling up inside her chest.

The Kira expression became curious as Peridot quickly shot her tiny arms forward and splayed her fingers.

There was a rattling sound from above as the Kira looked up and saw two very sharp metal hooks hurtling right towards him. Peridot had used her powers to move the hooks from the girders on the room's ceiling and threw them right towards the murderous being in front of her. She had never been happier to have powers over metallic objects as the hooks jettisoned right towards the human, who looked on with a blank expression. The Kira could do nothing but watch as the hooks flew closer, razor-edged tips now inches away from impaling his abdominal area. Her lips morphed into a grin as she realized she had won. She had shown this arrogant, idiotic human why she was a Crystal Gem, and why even Jasper had been defeated by her new abilities!

The hooks were quickly moving closer, centimeters away from impact. Peridot had made sure to aim for an area that was non-lethal because she doubted that Steven would-.

The hooks stopped just before impact, the sharp tips only touching the Kira's stylish shirt.

All of Peridot's confidence was swiftly extinguished. The Kira still had yet to move, eyes moving between the two hooks so close to stabbing him with a nonchalant gleam in his eyes. Peridot was growing exceptionally bewildered as she pulled back both her arms and thrust both hands forward again.

But the hooks did not move, still floating as her powers were obviously still functioning, but for some reason they would not move. It was like they had struck a wall and had gotten stuck in it. But that was impossible since there was literally nothing but air between the hooks and the Kira!

She focused as much as she could on the hooks, sweat now dripping down her forehead as she stretched her arms to their limits. The hooks began to wobble and shake as they levitated, but still would not move an inch forward.

"I see, so you have the power of magnetism at your very fingertips." The Kira said, voice detached of any emotion as his eyes looked from her to the hooks. That look reminded her of the gazes the Diamonds had whenever they were processing new information some lowly grunt had given them. The now frigid human was clearly analyzing this new development in his mind with rapid speed. "Unlike your friends, you don't seem to possess a physical weapon; otherwise, you would have used that to attack me as opposed to these rusty meat hooks. Your abilities also seem to be rather immature, since you only used two hooks to attack me, as opposed to all of them." His eyes moved to all the meat hooks Peridot did not use to attack him before they moved back to the two so close to impaling him. The uncaring monster gave a little flick with his fingers to one of the hooks. "You're like a tiny  _Magneto_ , except unlike him, your powers are feeble and incredibly undeveloped."

Peridot did not have time to question who this "Magneto" was or feel angry at the Kira for calling her tiny, because she was soon hit with another wave of terror and cold, suffocating dread. The murderous human was glaring at her, within his eyes was a toxic mixture of disgust and annoyance as Peridot began to shake once again. Why? Why weren't her powers working when she needed them the most? Why were they suddenly betraying her when she was helpless against this unfeeling and frightening human?

And then, just when she thought her situation couldn't get any worse, the hooks began to move again. This would have been a good thing, except the hooks were traveling  _backward_  through the air.

Peridot's eyes widened as she let out a grunt, focusing harder than ever before on any object to use her powers on. But no matter how much effort she put to concentrating, the hooks only continued to move, now levitating higher into the air as they slowly shifted and turned positions, the sharp edges now pointing down towards the ground.

And then, the hooks were suddenly propelled through the air at great speeds right towards Peridot. Despite all her concertation, the hooks only continued to jettison with no signs of even remotely slowing down.

Peridot let out a loud scream as she quickly rolled away as fast as her legs would move. Her triangle shaped hair was cut slightly by the two hooks, but she was able to dodge the metallic objects as they hit the floor with enough force to leave deep, elongated cracks on the ground.

Peridot stood up as quickly as she could, eyes wide with shock as she stared at the hooks now stabbing into the ground. Did her powers do that? Did they somehow malfunction so badly they had not only missed their target completely but had actually ended up with green Gem being on the receiving end of her own attack?

No, that couldn't possibly be it. How powers were working fine when she had first launched the hooks, but the moment they were inches away from the Kira….something happened to the two hooks she was controlling. It was like they had gained some form of sentience, able to resist her abilities of polarity and rebel against her.

No, It was more accurate to say that the hooks had seemed to be… grabbed by something and then thrown right at her.

"Having some performance issues?" The falsely sweet voice with undertones of smugness brought her back to reality as she looked up at the Kira. His lips were in a small smile, expression full of fake sympathy and tinges of well-justified superiority. "Is there anything else you'd like to try?"

She suddenly felt very cold, like she had entered a chamber where the temperature was below zero. Peridot was once again consumed by a terror; a corrupt fear filling her stomach as she felt herself tremble. Her body was once again crushed under the weight of all the homicidal desires the man was leaking from within himself. Dread engulfed Peridot and drowned her deeper and deeper into its dark shadows. And the Kira's smile grew a tiny amount as she knew he was reveling in her despair.

What was she supposed to do? Her last gamble had failed spectacularly and had only succeeded in prolonging the inevitable. There was nothing else she could do to the being with eyes of pure menace, who had yet to kill her only because he still found her amusing. Like a Diamond seeing a Pearl desperately begging her master not to throw her away as they listened to the Pearl's entire rant, for one moment seeming to consider the servants pleads, before crushing the Pearl's hopes with a snap of their fingers.

The being who demanded awe and fear in front of the little Gem was done playing with her. With no other options, no friends to back her up, there was no hope for Peridot. Her friends would never see her again, perhaps wondering what had happened to her before reaching the awful conclusion. That she had died, and then they would most likely be devastated by anguish and grief. Maybe not all of them would have this reaction, but some of them most certainly would. Her friends would never again-

Wait, that was it!

In the midst of all the vivid terror and crushing fright that the Kira caused with just his words and glances, she had forgotten about the plan she had before she entered the room! She was outmatched, that much was painfully obvious, so her only hope was calling for backup. If she could contact her friends and survived long enough against the Kira, there was still a chance! She just had to contact Steven with her tablet and then-!

She paused, her fingers grasping at nothing but air as she felt her mind shut down from another surge of limb pulverizing fear. Where was her tablet? She just had it! She must have dropped at some point and hadn't realized it because she was busy trying to keep her physical form from dissipating!

Her eyes quickly scanned every inch of the room and she found her tablet within five seconds.

About eight feet away from the Kira. It was roughly the same distance away from Peridot as well, lying there on the dirty floor face down without knowing the turmoil its owner was going through.

Steven had once told her that in times of extreme stress and fear, humans would often feel their hearts stop beating. While she had no heart, at least in the physical sense, she had a feeling this would be what humans go through. A bitter, pulsating coldness spread throughout her body as fear began to swirl and twist her chest in a vicious grasp. She could do nothing but stare at her tablet in muted horror.

"Oh, don't tell me your thinking about grabbing this, are you?" The Kira pointed at the tablet with one finger before his brows furrowed together. The temperature in the room seemed to match the frigid storm going on in her body as the Kira's eyes seemed to ignite with fire. A dark, horrible fire made of a deep hatred and smoldering anger. "Perhaps, you wish to contact your friends with this little device?"

Though he phrased his words like a question, it was clear by his tone that he knew that was Peridot's intention. Tangible malevolence emanated from the terrifying being in front of her. It was cold and absolutely murderous, the Kira wanting to do nothing except tear Peridot limb from limb. She could feel horror grab every part of her body, trying to drag her down into new levels of terror.

But she wouldn't give in.

The fear was overwhelming, but somehow she shook off the almost corporeal horror grabbing her as her body burned with fiery conviction. She was terrified, scared out of her mind, but she needed to be strong. She needed to stop shaking or else she really would die.

"Let me give you a warning. If you grab that tablet…" The Kira slowly raised his left arm, elbow jutting out to the left as his hand was mere inches away from his face.

He then slowly raised his left thumb.

"Then by the time I bring my thumb down, your death certificate will be signed."

The frozen yet somehow living murderous intent that leaked from each and every syllable the Kira spoke was enough to make Peridot sweat. Her hands shook as she could feel the hatred take form into something monstrous, something beyond words that only had the desire to kill anything that disgusted it.

She clenched her hands into fists, arms still shaking, teeth grit as she stared at the tablet. Her decision was already made.

With a bellowing war cry, Peridot charged right towards her tablet, moving faster than she ever had run before. The Kira did not even bother to run, choosing instead to watch with blank purple voids for eyes.

Peridot was almost within reach of her tablet within a few seconds, fingers stretching to grab it as she felt hope build up with her. A beaming smile soon found its way onto her lips as she finally caught the edges of her wonderful device.

And then the Kira brought his thumb down. There was an audible click.

And the most agonizing pain Peridot had ever felt consumed her as she screamed.

The Kira only smiled in response.

* * *

Josuke was hit with a faint sense of Déjá Vu as he once again found himself chased by something that could move as fast as the motorcycle he was riding on.

The only difference this time was that last time, he was chased by Highway Star, a Stand that while dangerous, was still nothing like the enemy he was facing now.

Because last time, he didn't have to worry about Highway Star blowing him into bloody chunks of flesh if he got caught.

Racing down the busy streets of New Jersey with his newly stole- acquired bike at speeds well beyond the speed limit was far from easy. Josuke had to weave through multiple vehicles in order not to crash into them at ridiculously fast speeds, sharp and powerful gales of wind colliding against his face. Since he did not have a helmet, the wind made it hard to keep his eyes open, which made it that much harder to see. The darkening skies did nothing to help his eyesight, but thankfully he had a way to solve this issue. Crazy Diamond's eyesight was not at all troubled by the wind or darkness, so Josuke channeled his energy and his eyes turned a different shade of blue; his Stand's vision had become his own as he continued to accelerate down the roads, eyesight now better than ever. The winds still bothered him though, and he was starting to feel his face get cut from some very intense gusts.

And Sheer Heart Attack was still hot on his tail. Through the collected cacophony of his own engine along with the other vehicle's driving by him, he could still hear the tiny bomb's screams.

_**"Get back here you inbred child of a fucking rat!"** _

He would give the bomb this; its insults were rather creative.

Sheer Heart Attack was speeding down the busy road, its metallic body swerving left and right over the white lanes of the street, wheels moving faster and faster by the second. The metallic bomb raced through the busy traffic, its tiny frame able to go under the cars and come out from underneath them with ease. Any time it could not go underneath a car, it would simply slam into the vehicle's wheels and send the car flying to the side, the vehicles landing with thunderous booms as they hit the sidewalks and sometimes nearby buildings.

Sheer Heart Attack wasn't kidding when it said it got an upgrade.

Josuke went in-between the car lanes, bike almost touching two cars that were on both of his sides, as he revved up the throttle. The motorcycle's engine gave a metallic roar as Josuke accelerated down the road, passing the cars boxing him in as he sped right through a red light and over a crosswalk. He made sure to avoid the people trying to cross the streets, and while they were angry for nearly getting run over, they were otherwise fine.

But Sheer Heart Attack had no qualms about hurting innocent people. The small bomb ran right through the crowd of pedestrians, severed legs flying into the air as blood cascaded down the now horrified citizens. Josuke saw the looks of pain and shock on their faces, heard their screams, and his features burned with a white-hot animosity. He was so tempted to turn the bike around and charge right at the no good-.

_Josuke, there may be times when you're fighting an enemy they do something truly horrendous. You might feel angrier than you have ever felt before, but in those moments, you can not succumb to your rage. In those situations, you have to keep a cool head no matter what._

Jotaro's voice broke him out of his fury. The master of Crazy Diamond realized he was almost about to do something that would only end up with himself dead. His anger had been becoming more and more venomous with each passing day he spent in this world, and it was turning him into some mindless beast. It was a little frightening to him; he had never thought his anger could become so scorching that it made him lose all sense of rationality. He was honestly shocked that a majority of himself was so eager to give in to his hatred.

_Calm down Josuke. You can't help anyone if you're dead._  He needed a plan, or else he'd never defeat Sheer Heart Attack. He looked at the speedometer on the bike and saw he was going at eighty miles an hour. Glancing behind him, he saw Sheer Heart Attack coming out from underneath a taxi and getting closer to Josuke. Right now, the mobile bomb was about twenty-five feet away, but Josuke could tell it was closing the distance with each second that passed.

Josuke saw his options as he analyzed his situation, the winds causing his jacket to billow. He needed to find some method to hurt Sheer Heart Attack.

And the only way to do find that method was to experiment on the spherical-shaped bomb.

Seeing an intersection coming up, Josuke twisted the throttle with his hands as hard as he could. The black motorcycle once again sped up, the winds intensifying as the intersection came up fast. Just as Josuke arrived at the corner with his bike doing ninety miles, he had Crazy Diamond grab the windscreen of the bike and at the same time stretch its other arm and dig its fingers through a lamppost located on the curb right next to him. Just as he began to shift his bike to the right and turn, Crazy Diamond began to tug on the windscreen, pink muscles bulging through silver plating. Even though Josuke had started to turn, at the speed he was going he would crash into a car before he had a chance to pivot fully.

Which was where Crazy Diamond came in, fingers making even bigger holes in the lamppost as sparks began to fly. Just as Josuke passed the corner and went into the intersection, his bike on a collision course with a blue SUV, the humanoid Stand pulled on the windscreen with all its strength and chucked Josuke and the motorcycle to the right.

_**"DORA!"** _

The Stand user now found himself flying down a narrow road, his bike no longer on the ground as it soared into the air. The added momentum from Crazy Diamond swinging its body around the lamppost as well as its already great strength was enough to send its master flying.

He had essentially used his Stand to slingshot him so that way, he didn't have to slow down and risk getting obliterated.

Josuke flew through the air for about five seconds before he landed back on the road, now on a narrow street with no cars currently traveling down the black pavement.

Perfect.

From the corner of his eye Josuke saw Sheer Heart Attack turn from the junction and into the narrow street. But as the tiny bomb rounded the corner, it had to slow down or else it wouldn't make the turn into the mouth of the street. Josuke had seen Sheer Heart Attack make similar sharp turns like this before, and he knew that within a few seconds the bomb would be rocketing down the streets at speeds regular people would have trouble keeping track of.

But those few seconds of slow movement were all he needed.

_**"DORARARARARARARA!"** _

Crazy Diamond fist moved so rapidly it was like the Stand had multiple pairs of arms. Punches with the power to break buildings hit the street at speeds no one could hope to follow. Chunks of black concrete detonated into the air; deep, long and wide cracks now opened in the street as Crazy Diamond let loose another salvo of hypersonic punches at the hunks of debris while they were still in midair.

Josuke's Stand did this all while he was moving at ninety-five miles an hour and in just a second.

The hunks of earth were careened through the air and headed right for Sheer Heart Attack. But the metallic bomb's only response was to accelerate forward towards the chunks of road. The dozens of pieces of debris collided with the insanely fast and highly explosive bomb, each chunk shattering into a fine cloud of dust. After every piece of road hit Sheer Heart Attack at full force, there was a cloud of smoke and ash spreading throughout the street.

And from the smog Sheer Heart Attack came rocketing out, not even one scratch present on its teal plates.

_**"How idiotic can you get!? Did you think those kinds of shitty attacks would be enough to stop me!?"**_ The booming voice of the tank-like bomb roared over Josuke's bikes engines, each word it spoke full of furious scorn.

_Of course I knew that attack wouldn't work._  Josuke thought as a bright yellow aura surrounded him and Crazy Diamond.

He knew a couple of bricks made of cement would do nothing to Sheer Heart Attack, which was why he had another goal in mind. When Crazy Diamond blitzed the street, its punches had dug straight through the concrete, exposing long black power cables that ran underneath the road. His Stand had destroyed the thick cords, pieces of them flying out from the concrete and landing above ground on the street.

And Sheer Heart Attack missed how the scattered and severed cables that were now littering the street started to glow yellow.

In an instant, just as Sheer Heart Attack traveled over a large crack in the street, the cables floated off the ground and suddenly jettisoned through the air. Multiple cables converged on Sheer Heart Attack, the cords coiling around the tiny bomb like jet black cobras.

_**"What the hell!?"** _

The cords surrounded by yellow energy were able to slow down the metallic bomb, scorch marks now adorning the street as the cords brought the bomb to a full stop. The black cables continued to move on their own, an unseen force pulling them as they continued to hold onto Sheer Heart Attack, the bomb now being dragged backward. The ends of the cords pointed away from Sheer Heart Attack with their jagged and severed tips towards the large crack in the street, several cables converging and crawling underneath the crevice. The bomb tried to move forward even with the cords still wrapped around its frame, wheels accelerating so fast smoke began to steam from the ground.

Josuke had brought his bike to a stop near the end of the street, another intersection not too far away from him. The reason why he had stopped was that he needed to concentrate intently on his powers. Because he knew this wasn't going to be easy.

"You might as well stop struggling!" He shouted, the yellow aura around him growing, whirling and extending higher into the air. "When my Crazy Diamond sets out to fix something, nothing can stop it!"

Sheer Heart Attack ignored Josuke as it continued to pick up speed, actually able to move forward a few feet even as the yellow aura grew bigger on the cords. However, from underneath the crack, a massive wire surrounded with a bright yellow aura slowly rose into the air, its head bent like a snake. Without warning, the cord pulled itself back before it snapped like a whip, racing through the air and wrapping itself around Sheer Heart Attack's tiny frame.

_**"You son of-!"**_ It never finished as it suddenly was lifted right of its wheels and into the air, the other cords wrapped around its body slowly combined with the already vast and immense whip-like cord, growing longer with each thick wire that fused with it. The massive cable dragged Sheer Heart Attack back down to the ground; right through the large crack in the road.

Josuke grinned as he could imagine Sheer Heart Attack struggling against the cable wrapping around its body before they tied it down. Crazy Diamond's secondary ability to control where an object reformed had never been more helpful.

Once he felt the cables had been almost fully reverted to their original state, with the new addition of a mobile bomb now wrapped tightly along with them, his grin morphed into a smirk. One last black cable covered in a yellow aura floated down towards the crack before vanishing from view. Josuke hoped what was about to happen next would be painful for the arrogant bomb.

"Let's see if you can handle thousands of volts being shoved right up your ass!" He shouted, and at first, nothing happened.

Until giant sparks of blue electricity ignited from within the crack. The darkened sky was suddenly lit with intense lights as Josuke could hear Sheer Heart Attack scream. Not from anger like from before, but from an agonizing, burning pain as God knows how many volts of electricity zapped its metallic body. Lights from buildings fluctuated as the sparks grew bigger, a dark blue glow partially blinding Josuke as Sheer Heart Attack's scream grew louder, the purple haired teen surprised his ears weren't bleeding by now.

And then, the sparks stopped, as did the screaming, the lights from nearby buildings turned off but did not turn on again.

The only sound Josuke heard was the noise of cars zooming behind him as they traveled down one of the roads of the intersection. He had hoped that had been enough to take out the bomb, but he had a feeling that Sheer Heart Attack might still be active. It was a gut feeling he had developed after fighting in so many Stand battles.

And that feeling was soon verified when a massive explosion erupted from underneath the road. Plumes of fire erupted into the air as a wide massive crater now formed on the road.

And about two feet away from that crater another explosion detonated from underneath the concrete. Columns of flame shot out from the new crater and into the night sky; and another two feet away from the new pit, another explosion ripped through the street.

And another one soon followed that one. And another one after that.

Josuke eyes widened as he saw eruption after eruption of fiery explosions of bright orange flames head towards him in a straight line. Chunks of black concrete were sent flying through the air as the explosions erupted quicker with each blast, a train made out of plumes of scorching flames heading right towards him at high speeds.

"Oh shit!" Josuke shouted, quickly turning on his motorcycle's engines before he took off like a bullet, the trail of fiery explosions giving him chase. He turned to the left of the intersection, revving the throttles as hard as he could as he weaved in front of cars and accelerated down the wide road as fast as his bike could move.

But the chain of explosions still followed him, cars getting caught up in the eruptions of flames and sent flying high into the air before crashing back down onto the road. Fire enveloped the plummeting vehicles as the explosions grew bigger, Josuke could feel the burning heat as he looked back and saw the trail of eruptions now dangerously close to hitting him.

_**"HIGASHIKATA!"** _

From beneath the road, Sheer Heart Attack pierced through solid concrete and lanced through the air right towards Josuke and his speeding bike, its scream coursing with bottomless fury as it was mere inches away from Josuke. The purple haired teen knew what was coming and reacted quickly, ordering his Stand to fly towards the metallic bomb as it pulled back its arm.

_**"DORA!"** _

Crazy Diamond spun in the air and delivered a right hook at speeds that made its fist look like a miniature silver wrecking ball, seeming to move faster than light itself. The punch landed right on the metallic plates that covered Sheer Heart Attack, metal groaning loudly as the incredibly powerful punch sent it careening backward.

However, as it flew back, Sheer Heart Attack was still able to unleash a massive explosion from within its tiny body. Josuke could do nothing as he saw the flames from the explosion rapidly approaching him before he and his bike were completely swallowed in a sea of burning orange.

* * *

Peridot had never experienced pain like this.

Never before had the genius gone through such excruciating agony. Never had every fiber of her being wailed from a burning force that caused her to scream. A terrible suffering enveloped her mind as the only thing she could focus on were the monstrous levels of pain running through her body.

"Wha-!?" She couldn't finish as she found even speaking sent fresh ripples of pain throughout her body. She let out a painful yelp as she felt needle-like stabs burning away at her forehead.

The moment she had touched her faithful tablet, an explosion enveloped her entire person, and she was sent flying through the room before crashing into an opposite wall. Somehow she was still able to hold onto to her precious tablet even when she was consumed by bright orange flames. Her small figure had made a sizeable dent in the metallic walls before she fell unceremoniously to the floor. And the pain seemed to rise with each passing second she was on the ground, her limbs feeling like they had been pulverized to dust.

"I warned you." The Kira's voice was able to penetrate her thoughts away from her pain as she remembered what kind of creature she was facing. Slowly, and with great difficulty, she raised her head, and saw the empty expression of the cold monster staring at her sprawled form. "That pain your feeling right now is a result of your foolishness. Though I will admit, you took that bomb better than most."

Peridot slowly sat up on the floor, blazing pain shooting through her body with each tortuous movement she made, and examined the damage done to her body. Dark bruises were scattered about her body, each new welt she saw on her skin seemed to be bigger than the last one. But what got her attention were not the bruises, but something far worse.

Cracks.

Long, horrible, fissures now ran along her body. Some were on her leg, longer cracks ran up her arm, and a particularly deep crack was present on her right hand.

Peridots eyes were wide, her expression growing with horror as she continued to look over herself. A disturbing fear ran through her body, somehow even worse than the terror she had been feeling up to this point. Just when she thought the man could not make her any more petrified, the monster made of nothing but murderous thoughts proved her wrong.

"Ho-How did…" Her voice sounded so different, no longer her usual high pitched falsetto but instead rough and throaty. To her, it was like her voice would cease to function at any moment; and judging from the pain speaking such little words brought to her entire body, she might be right.

"How did I make your little toy explode like that?" The Kira inferred, and Peridot nodded her head. He had no time to attach any explosive to her tablet, but that wasn't the biggest logical inconsistency she was currently dealing with.

"I-I'm a Pe-Peridot…" She said, trying to get the words out of her mouth despite the pain. The Kira raised a brow, his eyes held a curious gleam as he tried to figure out why she was telling him this. "A-A Gem… I'm built to en-endure worse things than explosions...so wh-why am I.." She couldn't finish as she found the pain too much, shutting her mouth as the pain continued to boil inside her. Her forehead felt even worse than the rest of her body somehow, no longer needles but knives of fiery agony pierced her head repeatedly. Something was wrong, but the pain clouded her usually high functioning mind.

The Kira's expression became contemplative, eyes looking towards the ceiling for one second before looking back down at Peridot. "Your race is resilient to explosives? Well, that's good to know for the future. And to answer your question, well…." He walked across the floor, and his nonchalant stride was accompanied by a small grin. "Contrary to what you believe, certain humans can possess abilities that are even greater than the powers you Gems wield. I'll try to dumb it down for you so you can understand what I'm talking about."

He once again stood tall over Peridot, features morphed by arrogance as he continued. "My powers are very dangerous for others. You see, anything I touch with my hands, I can turn that object into a bomb. And I do mean,  _anything."_

Peridots eyes widened at this new piece of information. How could a human possibly possess such abilities? It should be impossible, but Peridot had learned several times in the last ten minutes that sometimes things aren't as impossible as they seem.

"However, my bombs are not like your average bombs; they are far more deadly." The Kira's grin grew just the tiniest fraction bigger as he let out a short chuckle. It was just as disturbing and lifeless as him. "The objects I touch become infused with an explosive energy, and this energy can be transferred to any person who touches the now "charged" object. And when I bring my thumb down, that energy is ignited, causing an explosion that comes from within your body that can be as big or as small as I want it."

For the first time, Peridot truly realized how dangerous this man was. The ability he was describing, it was beyond terrifying. The power to turn anything into a bomb meant that he could turn even the most mundane of objects into a powerful weapon. It also explained why her tablet was not a melted mess, the explosive energy had been transferred to her, and thus her tablet was spared from the blast.

Suddenly, she froze as a stray thought struck her pain ridden body. The Kira had said the explosion had come from  _within_  the target…but that meant…

"By your face, I can tell you've realized it." The Kira's voice was cold, his words now held no emotion whatsoever. And to her, the room's temperature seemed to go down to subzero levels. "As I said, my bombs release the explosion from your insides, which means they burn away at whatever you have that counts as organs first before it burst from your very skin and swallows your body in silent flames."

Peridot felt her panic coil around her body so tightly it was like she might be crushed underneath its powerful hold. Her body was essentially a projection made from her gemstone, but she could still feel pain. Her tangible form was essentially a hologram but with mass, and that meant her body was just as real and physical as any other humans.

And what made her tremble so hard, even though each quiver sent fresh splashes of pain throughout her body, was the new information she had just learned. When a Gem's body sustained heavy damage, their consciousness would retreat back to their gemstone. The reason was so that they could rest and heal in their gemstones until they felt ready to come out. A small part of her had clung onto the hope that maybe the Kira did not know about this fact of Gem biology. That maybe he would just leave her thinking that he had killed her after dealing so much pain she was forced to retreat to her gemstone.

But now it did not matter if he knew or not. The Kira had just said he ignited a person's body from within, damaging first  _every part_  of their insides before an explosion erupted and consumed them.

And since her physical body was connected to her gemstone, the core of her being, that meant the explosive energy had also been placed inside there. That meant that the Kira had essentially just triggered an explosion from  _inside_ her gemstone.

Slowly, and with so much trepidation it oozed out from the cracks in her skin, she turned her head to the wall behind her, ignoring the blazing pain the simple motion caused her. She looked at the reflective surface of the wall and saw the cracks were longer than she thought, some stretching all the way to her back. And in the somewhat distorted reflection, she saw it.

She saw her gemstone, the one right on top of her forehead, the one her visor covered completely… was cracked.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!"

Despite how injured her throat was, she was still able to give let loose a deafening scream. The Kira was no longer at the forefront her mind as she now felt submerged in a sea of fear. Cold horror enveloped her like the cold fingers of one of the Diamonds as she realized how close she was to death. Her entire body went into a constricting panic, shaking greater than ever before. The blazing pain in her forehead rose with each convulsion of her body as she suddenly felt very dizzy. Despair and sickening dread coursed through every part of her body as sweat dripped down her forehead like a waterfall.

Cracks in a Gem's skin were one thing. Cracks in a gemstone were basically a death warrant.

"It seems you've finally grasped how utterly defeated you are." The Kira had crouched down, fingers cupping her cheeks as he forced Peridot to look up at him. He smirked as he saw her eyes slithering with the deepest terror she had ever felt. "Relax, while I may be touching you right now, I still have yet to turn you into a bomb."

The Kira might have expected Peridot to look hopeful at his declaration, but the extreme fear running through her would not allow her expression to hold even the tiniest bit of hope. Instead, a slightly confused frown found its way to her horror-ridden face.

"The truth is, you're the first Crystal Gem I have ever had the pleasure of talking too. Though, my conversational skills are not all that great, so I hope you can bear with me." The Kira's smirk turned into a thin line as his eyes turned to ice. The blank expression returned to his face while his very presence leaked with small tinges of contempt all finely directed right at the small Gem. "I want you to tell me everything of vital importance that relates to your race."

"Wha-…" Peridot tried to get the question out of her mouth, but the pain rose in her throat and seemed to make the burning agony her gemstone was going through even worse.

"It seems like fate wants me to fight against you Gems. And while I abhor fighting, if I do ever get into a battle, I will be victorious." The Kira stated the last part of his sentence as if it were a fact of the universe, arrogance rising in his stoic features. But as quickly as it came, the arrogance in his expression left just as fast. "Recent events in my life have shown me how important it is to know your enemy. So I want you to tell me everything about your race. And then, I want you to tell me everything about your friends, from their strengths to their weaknesses. Because if I do have to fight them, I rather kill them quickly through their weaknesses then have a long dragged out battle."

His eyes glared right into her eyes, purple daggers easily piercing through the inferior Gem's weakened body and shattering what little control she had left over her mind. "Do not think that if you tell me I will let you live. Whether you tell me or not, you shall die here in this room." His voice was a whisper; his words calm and threatening as his grip on Peridot's cracked cheeks tightened. "However, I will promise you that I'll give you a swift death should you cooperate. I do not like to torture, I believe even the most pathetic beings should be allowed a clean death should they choose so."

Something dark and cruel flashed in his eyes for one moment. It was something lifeless yet spiteful, something that wanted to be released and cause pain to anyone it wanted. Something made of murderous desires for one instant gleamed in the Kira's expression. A monster of the most disturbingly ominous tranquility was present in the Kira's face; darkness seemed to warp around its invisible form as if it could control the shadows surrounding it. Whatever it was, Peridot knew it was the most glacial being she had ever seen.

"But don't think that just because I don't like to torture means I won't make you go through hell. If you say no, I will make your last moments so painful that the scars will be transferred with you to the afterlife."

She knew she was dead; she knew there was no way she was getting out of this fight alive. This man would not only kill her, but would scatter her bits to the far corners of this planet and leave her as nothing more than a shell of her former self. Images of the cluster flashed through her mind, the way they all tried desperately to break the earth's crust just so they can attempt to find their shattered Gem pieces. Peridot had never felt so crushed, she had never felt such bottomless despair in her entire life. For one moment, she actually considered telling the Kira what he wanted. She was going to die anyway, so she might as well make her death as painless as possible. At least when she died, she would no longer feel all the terror and fear that made her body tremble.

But then she realized exactly what the Kira was asking for. He was asking her to betray her friends. Lapis, Steven, Amethyst, Pearl, and Garnet, this man was asking her to stab them in the back. To tell him their weaknesses so he could...kill them.

Even amidst all the white-hot pain and numbing terror inside her, even though she should be unable to feel anything other than the hopeless void of dread…anger rose in her chest, her mouth curling into a vicious snarl as she clenched her left hand. She could never do that, not again. She could never betray the ones who accepted her despite the fact that she was at times annoying and brash. She would never hurt the ones that treated her like family, the people who she had grown to care deeply for. Steven had taught her how to care for other people, just like he cared for her despite her past and her being a former enemy. To even think about cooperating with this monster would be the same as spitting in the face of the principles Steven held so dearly.

She needed to escape from the Kira and warn her friends of this enormous threat. She needed to find some way out and then contact Steven and Lapis. The excruciating pain bursting within her was wreaking havoc on her limbs, her gemstone still whirling with flaming agony, but she would not give up.

From the corner of her eye, she noticed her tablet was not that far away from her.

"Yo-You…" Peridot let out a raspy cough, ignoring her pain as she tried to get out her sentence. "You're the thing that almost killed Steven's friends, aren't you? You-you're the one we've been looking for this whole time." It was not a large leap in logic to make that assumption. From the Kira's powers, to the deceased human's hand he had carried in his pocket, it made Peridot certain that the "Corrupted Gem" she and the others had been searching for was this human. It was no wonder they couldn't find him; they were looking for something Gem related not some other horrible and sadistic monster.

"Ahh, yes, the "Rogue Gem" you people were looking for. I quite enjoyed the bird-like one asking me if I had seen anything strange. Had I been a different person, I might have laughed at the irony." She had learned through her time with the Diamonds that beings who had vast egos due to their incredible power had a large habit of gloating. The Kira seemed to only do it when he thought victory was certain, but the fact remained he still liked to taunt his opponents with a small smile on his lips. She also noticed he liked to look directly into his opponent's eyes whenever he taunted them, loving the dread pooling in their expression's

Which was why he did not notice her go for her tablet with her left hand. She could not type a message since the tablet was lying flat on its face and therefore could not see the screen. And she did not dare look away from the Kira's gaze; otherwise, he would know immediately something was wrong. So, since she could not type a message to her friends, she did the next best thing.

Peridot's fingers searched for the button to turn on her tablet, the Kira still had his empty eyes trained right on her. Eventually, she found the power button, and pressed it with two digits, holding the circular button for ten seconds before letting go. She had installed a new feature on her tablet recently, designed for situations just like this one. Essentially, she had installed a small chip that would reroute the power of her tablet to send out a wireless signal. The signal had an incredible range, and from here, the devices she needed should easily be able to trace it.

Now, she needed a way to escape the Kira's grasp on her cheeks.

"But I suggest you stop stalling and give me an answer already." The Kira's eyes narrowed as his voice coursed with cruelty, his lips moving into a frown. "And for your sake, I hope you agree and simply choose the less painful route."

She needed to escape the room, she needed a plan but her mind failed to come up with a good one. The stabs of unmitigated torture piercing her gem made it hard to concentrate. She had to come up with something or else-.

Then she remembered how there were metal girders right above the two. She had never used her telekinetic powers over metal on something so large and heavy before, but right now it was either succeed or die trying.

So, steeling her resolve, she looked right into Kira's eyes, her expression calm and neutral, saying nothing about the storm of thoughts running through her head.

"You want my answer?" She said as the Kira's own eyes were once again lit with malicious flames.

"Choose carefully now." His voice was low, his words cold and uncaring as they carried a heavy weight of menace. His features gleamed with homicidal urges, like an executioner expecting his prisoner to become disobedient.

Peridot had just remembered an earth expression Amethyst had once taught her. It was an insult of the highest caliber in earth culture, something the purple Gem had said was a phrase so scathing and shocking that any human who heard it would be immediately offended. It was so cruel that not even Amethyst said it that often, and she had warned Peridot in an unusually serious voice to never say those words in front of Steven and  _especially_ Pearl.

Now seemed like a good time to use those words.

"My answer…" She trailed off, willing herself to push through the pain as she slowly lifted her right arm. "Is a firm  _ **fudge you**_ _."_

The Kira did not look as offended as she hoped; instead, he raised a brow and slightly quirking his head to the side as if confused. Perhaps her insult had been so cruel the human had no idea how to comprehend it. She did put as much hatred and fury into her words as possible, so that could have been the reason.

And without wasting another second, she opened her palm and pointed it right up towards the girders. She then clutched her hand into a fist, concentrating harder than ever before as the sound of metal groaning from heavy stress resonated in the room. And then, the girders were ripped right from the ceiling and began to plummet right towards the Kira. With the added force of her powers, the girders moved with lightning speed and would hit the Kira right on his head.

And just as the girders were about to crash into the monster, the Kira let go of Peridot and stood up at full height. With an eerily calm expression, he quickly brought his arm above his hand.

And before the girders could reach the Kira, the sides of the large support beams were suddenly dented. They veered off course at an even greater speed than before and crashed into the floor, metal scraping against the cold ground and letting out a screeching noise that was incredibly grating to her ears.

Peridot did not question how the heavy objects were batted away like insects by nothing; because she was busy rolling under the gap between the Kira's legs, tablet grasped tightly against her chest. She knew something like that would not hurt the Kira, which was why she had used the girders as a distraction. Trying not to scream from blazing pain rolling on the ground caused her body, she stood up once she saw she was a safe distance away from the Kira. She heard the sound of the cracks expanding on her skin as she moved, but she tried to focus on running for her life instead of the growing damage to her body.

She quickly made it to the door, sticking out her hand as she swung it to her right. The door mirrored her actions, opening so fast it slammed into the wall. She quickly exited the room before she turned her head to the side and once again thrust her hand out at the door. Clutching her hand as hard as her wounded fingers would allow, she flung her arm to the side as the door quickly moved from the wall back to its hinges.

But just before the door closed, she saw the Kira glaring at her as he took small steps forward.

Knowing that she had only brought herself a few seconds, she continued to run as she flipped her tablet and began to type a message to Steven. She was halfway through the store by now, passing by several display cases as her wide eyes were locked onto the screen.

_STEVEN I ACQUIRE IMMEDIATE ASSISTANCE! AM CURRENTLY HEAVILY DAMAGED WITH MY GEM CRACKED AND BEING CHASED BY SOMETHING FAR MORE TERRIFYING THEN ANYTHING WE'VE EVER-!_

That was as far as she got before two things happened almost simultaneously.

The first was the door to the room flying off its hinges, a huge dent present in the center as the large, metallic door soared through the air and just barely missing her hair. The door continued to careen until it collided with one of the display cases, crushing the glass container at the speed it was going at.

And then the second thing was her tablet being crushed within her fingertips before something slammed into her torso with enough force to lift her off her feet and send her careening through the air. The strength from the blow caused the cracks on her body to grow deeper and longer, searing jolts of pain running rampant on her body as she let out a loud scream. Her body twirled in the air, moving like a miniature green and spiraling missile before she smashed through a glass window and landed in a painful tumble on the outside curb.

Peridot's vision darkened, the pain inside her rising and burning away every inch of her body; for a moment, she thought her body might turn into ash. Her mind and body were screaming at her, her limbs flooding with fresh waves of agony as the world around her continued to grow darker. Her thoughts became foggy, unable to even remember why she was here or what had happened to her. She was so tempted to fade into unconsciousness, to return back into her gemstone and rest.

But then, as if she was slapped hard against her face, her eyes widened as she remembered the state she was in, and how she had to run from a monster made of nothing but cold dread and murderous contempt. The absolute last thing she wanted was to fade back into her gem.

She fought to stay awake, pushing away the darkness from her eyes as she slowly and shakily stood up. Her bruises were now jet black, a particularly large one etched into the center of her torso as she clutched her stomach with one hand. Ever part of her body now had cracks in it, the pain flooding her body was torturous and she could feel her gemstone cracking a little more. She tried to ignore the fear and panic swirling in her chest, but that was all but impossible as she looked into the reflection of one of the mirror shards. The cracks were definitely bigger, and seeing this made her fear double in size, eyes widening further and sweat now pouring down her face. If her gemstone continued to get damaged, at this rate, she would just become another mindless creature who ran on nothing but instincts. Just like all the other Corrupted Gems Steven and the others faced so many times before.

_Don't think like that Peridot, right now need to ignore your pain and just get out of here before-!_

She never finished her thought, a new current of terror swept over her body as she looked at one of the shards of glass on the floor.

For in the reflection, standing right behind her, was the Kira. His eyes were narrowed, the monster behind her radiating frigid killing intent. Once again, Peridot felt paralyzed by the man's eyes that held only shadows of horror. The monster now patiently waited to end her once and for all.

She couldn't even bring herself to turn around and face him, instead her eyes choose to look at his reflection in the glass shards. For all her bravado and attempts to be brave, she could not ignore the Gem dissolving fear this man caused with just his stare.

"You're really starting to remind me of someone I used to know." The Kira's eyes for a moment rose with deep anger, Peridot not moving an inch before his expression quickly turned emotionless again. "It doesn't matter now, after all…" His bent down as his hands reached for Peridot's shoulder, and while she desperately screamed at her legs to move, she found herself unable to even lift a single finger.

"You're about to join him in whatever counts as-."

Whatever he was about to say he didn't finish as he stopped his arm inches away from Peridot's body. He raised a single eyebrow as eyes scanned the area around him, but why Peridot did not know.

Then suddenly, she heard it. A faint buzzing sound, but not like the wings of an insect. No, this sound was like metal chopping and slicing the air, almost like her-.

She suddenly realized what that sound belonged to, turning around and looking towards the sky as the buzzing noise was soon replaced by the sound of several loud beeps.

And then five beams of green energy fired through the air and headed right for the Kira. The monster reacted quickly, jumping away from Peridot just as the beams of energy hit the spot he had once occupied. The beams cast a bright green glow over the area, and once the shining light faded, Peridot saw the Kira at least fifteen feet away; the curb now had a large black scorch mark adorning its face. Thin columns of smoke rose upwards as the green Gem's lips tugged into a small smile as she saw her saviors.

Wheel sized spheres hovered twenty feet in the air, the top part of their bodies a dark shade of green while the other half was obsidian black. Three green and thin pieces of rebar were planted at the topmost parts of the spheres, helicopter-like blades whirling to keep themselves floating. Near the bottom of the spheres was another green rod, but this one was different. At the mouth of the steel pillar, there was a blue glass-like frame attached to it. Through the frame and the hollow insides of the rebar, she could see a black circular device that was flickering with green electricity installed all the way at the back.

She had forgotten about the signal she had sent to her Attack Drones, the machines Peridot had built from the leftover parts at the barn and were now currently aiming their slim cannons right at the Kira.

"I take it these are your toys?" The Kira asked as Peridot saw his lips move into a thin line.

"Y-Yes they are." She said, pride mustering in her voice despite how painful each syllable was to speak. She knew that even with her drones, they would not stop this monster, but she did not need her machines to do that. All she needed them to do was hold the Kira off until she could find Steven and Lapis. With her tablet destroyed, she would have to meet them in person and tell them of the disturbingly nightmarish and deeply horrifying man she had encountered. Right now, they should be at Funland, and while it was not exactly close to her current location, she should be able to make it.

So, with those thoughts in her mind, she looked towards her five hovering Attack Drones, and gave one simple order.

"Attack Drones, fire at will!" She managed to get out even with the pain, and the tips of the Attack Drones grew a bright green. The Kira ran forward, and then each and every one of her drones fired. Green beams launched from their cannons, laser after laser firing in rapid succession as they hit the Kira. Dozens of beams of pure hot plasma hit their mark and caused plumes of thick smoke to obscure the Kira from sight, but her drones still continued to fire at an even faster rate.

Eventually, her drones stopped firing, needing to take a moment to recharge as a thick smog now covered a good portion of the street. The only sound Peridot could hear was the hovering blades of her drones.

And then, through the smog, a jagged and slim piece of black concrete jettisoned through the smoke and headed right for one of her drones. The knife-like hunk of concrete hit one of her machines in the center, piercing through reinforced metal with ease as her machine now had a long piece of cement lodged in its body.

And then Peridot heard a click, and the drone exploded in a huge blast of scorching flames. Since her other drones were so close to the exploding drone, they too were caught up in the fiery eruption. The one who was at the epicenter of the explosion crashed into the ground, now nothing more than scraps of burnt metal. Two more drones fell into the ground, but they weren't as damaged as the first one since they still were in one piece. However, sparks were flying from deep cuts in their now scorched metallic skin, the blades that allowed them to fly were cut in half. In total, three of her drones were now rendered useless, leaving her with only two left.

And as the smoke cleared, the Kira stood perfectly still, not a single wound on him. The only damage Peridot could see was that his suit and pants had been singed from the Attack Drones beams, holes now scattered throughout his clothing.

"Congratulations, you just made me angry."

And suddenly Peridot found herself being glared at by a creature of pure darkness. She saw all the hatred whirling within the Kira, felt the cold and malevolent fury his gaze emanated, and once again saw a monster of pure corruption form right in the Kira's eyes. A tangible malevolence flooded the area as Peridot had one thought running through her head.

Run.

"Beta, Alpha, fire again!" She shouted at her two remaining drones as she turned on her heels and ran. The pain grew worse with each step she took; Peridot was forced to let out small shouts due to the agony moving just a few feet caused her body, but she did not slow down. If anything she ran even faster down the street.

And as she ran, she heard the Kira scream.

"No matter where you run, I will find you!"

His shout was then followed by the sounds of her drones firing more beams of green plasma. She did not turn around to see if they hit him, nor did she turn around when she heard something crash into the ground.

She just kept running, eye wide with unrelenting fear as she hoped with every fiber of her being she would find Steven.

* * *

Kira had just destroyed the last of the flying drones in one more silent explosion, watching as the little alien ran like a scared puppy. He shouldn't have toyed with her so much and just blown her up the moment she entered the meat locker. But he wanted to see that little girl squirm under his gaze; he wanted to enjoy the terror he would cause her and smile as her eyes filled with despair.

He supposed old habits die hard. The fact that she reminded him so much of Shigechi, from the way she trembled to even her physical stature, only increased the urge to torment her.

But it would not matter, he would catch up with her soon enough. This part of town was almost always deserted, and adding in the fact that most of the citizens were probably at the fireworks celebration, the chance of her finding someone to help her were slim.

And if she did, well, they would suffer the same fate.

He ran down the streets as fast as he could, turning with the curving road around the corner. The alien was nowhere in sight unfortunately, the only things he saw were the several stores and alleyways that could be seen from his spot on the road. He let out a grunt of frustration as he tried to figure out the best course of action to take.

She was most likely going to try and get help from her friends, but he doubted she would go to the temple located all the way at the edge of the island. While he did not know much about her alien biology, he felt it was safe to say that with all the cracks and bruises on her skin, she would not be able to move for very long. So that meant she was going to a place where she could meet at least one member of the Crystal Gems. But where was the question.

His eyes moved to his right hand, and he was tempted to call Let Me Live into existence. But there was a problem with using the sentry version of Killer Queen. True, in its gaseous form it could search through the town with great speed, but the problem was it tracked down people by their heat signatures. Since he had yet to see the little alien bleed, it was unlikely that she had any body heat to track. Which would make it even harder for Let Me Live to find her as his gaseous sentry would be wasting precious minutes in attempts to locate the small girl. Not to mention the fact that Let Me Live was far too careless and flashy with its attacks, most likely it would kill anyone even near the alien with its incredibly destructive power and destroy several buildings. That kind of attention-grabbing power would most likely bring the other Gems here, and he did not want to deal with them too. He wanted to only erase the little nuisance that was the green alien, not exterminate an entire clan of migraine-inducing magical women.

He needed to deal with this matter as quietly as possible.

_This is incredibly nostalgic._  He thought, remembering how Shigechi employed a similar strategy of running away and trying to get help. But just like Shigechi, the little alien would-

He did not have time to finish that thought as he heard the sound of something flying through the air. Expecting another ball-shaped machine, he turned around and was surprised at what he actually saw.

In the distance soaring high in the sky was the faint but unmistakable outline of a small boy riding something a few miles away. The serial killer closed his eyes and when they reopened, they were no longer his usual purple, but instead a dull pink and his pupils had become catlike. His vision now greatly enhanced to the point he could see the smallest details of the insects flying around him, and he saw exactly who was flying over Beach City.

It was Universe, and he was sitting atop a blue skin woman with wings made of water. Both Universe and the woman were looking down at the city below them, searching for something important if their worried expressions were any indicator.

He knew instantly what they were looking for.

_Damn._ He cursed, wondering if the green alien had somehow managed to contact her friends as well as her drones. But that train of thought was illogical, as they would have shown up along with the drones if she did contact them. No, for some reason, they were looking for the girl even though she had yet to call for help; otherwise, they'd be rushing to her location.

But that fact remained they were looking for her, and since they could see the entire city from the sky, it would only be a matter of time before they find her.

The master of Killer Queen quickly decided he needed to create a very large, a very noticeable distraction right now.

Running back towards the closed butcher's shop, Kira had Killer Queen pick up all the remains of the drones they had destroyed off the street before throwing them right at the store. Each and every scrap of metal flew through the broken window and landed with a loud clunk onto the floor. Kira then ran away from the store and all the way down the street before turning around the bending corner and continuing to run.

And as he ran, he turned and lifted his head before looking at the sky. He then brought his left thumb up quickly and then brought it down.

Though his explosions never made any noise, the large pillars of fire suddenly detonating high into the air was all the confirmation he needed. Bright red and orange flames were visible from over the buildings and he heard a boyish scream of shock.

_That should keep them busy._

And as the flames rose higher, Kira Yoshikage was enveloped in a dark purple aura as his mouth morphed into a frown. Nothing was going to stop him from killing the little alien girl who was trying to disrupt his peaceful life.

A ruthless determination entered his eyes, his features becoming cold as his mind became consumed with thoughts of hunting down the green alien.

* * *

Josuke's eyes slowly opened, having blacked out for a second after being hit by Sheer Heart Attack's explosion. And when his vision finally cleared his eyes widened at what he saw.

He was currently flying through the air, portions of his clothes now singed to black strands of fabric and his body adorned with bright red burn marks. His motorcycle was now long gone, the only remains of it were its scorched handlebars in his hands. And Josuke was falling down at rapid speeds towards a road full of speeding cars that would easily run over him.

_Shit!_

Acting quickly, Josuke channeled the energy flowing within him as a yellow aura surrounded the handlebars. He was getting closer and closer to the road, his body plummeting at high speeds and in mere seconds he would crash and be nothing more than a bloody corpse.

Thankfully his Stand's powers saved him from that fate.

From seemingly nowhere, several different types of machinery began to converge underneath handlebars. Slowly, the parts began to take shape, black metal forming a smooth seat, axels and pipes forming into the intricate infrastructure of the machine and wheels merging with the base of his now completely repaired and brand new bike.

Josuke quickly sat back on top of the black motorcycle just in time as the bike landed on the roof of a large white van. The moment his motorcycle made contact with the van, its momentum from the fall caused it to immediately bounce off the roof and hit the street below. Josuke gripped the throttles as hard as he could before his bike blasted off. Just before another car speeding down the road almost crashed into the young Stand user.

And now that the immediate danger was away, Josuke took in his surroundings. He was racing across a wide, two-laned road divided by a long, silver guardrail that stretched for miles. A short distance in front of him cars were moving just as fast as his bike, which was currently going at sixty miles an hour. Behind him he saw dozens of cars form a small gridlock as apparently the one car that had almost hit Josuke had swerved and crashed into another car. The now immobile cars had created an improv blockade that caused all the vehicles behind them to come to a full stop. No one was injured thankfully, the only things damaged were the two cars that caused the massive traffic jam.

But what made Josuke eyes narrow in suspicion was the noticeable absence of a small metallic bomb. There was no way Sheer Heart Attack thought it had killed him, so where was the mobile bomb? His motorcycle continued to accelerate, gusts of intense wind blowing against his body as he tried to see where the bomb could-.

Suddenly, at least a mile ahead in the opposite lane, Josuke saw a gigantic fireball erupt from underneath several cars. Pillars of scorching flames ignited the night air as the force from the explosion sent the vehicles high into the air. Cars and trucks now covered in flames flew from the opposite lane and headed right towards Josuke.

Seeing massive hunks of flaming metal head towards him at alarming speeds, Josuke responded in the only way he knew how.

By revving up the accelerator and racing right towards the onslaught of metal with a cool and calm gleam in his eyes.

_This is no problem._

" _ **DORARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARA!**_

Crazy Diamond materialized right in front of his bike and began to pummel the road, its punches forming a miniature ramp made out of black concrete. Josuke ran right over the ramp and was launched into the air, now flying towards the falling and burning vehicles with dead drivers in their seats. Just as Josuke was about to collide with an SUV consumed by flames, Crazy Diamond appeared right in-between its master and oncoming car before slamming a silver coated right hook into the car. The power from that one punch was enough to send the car flying to the side and away from Josuke.

" _ **DORA!"**_

Another car quickly followed the previous one, this one was a long semi-truck, its massive silver trailer aimed to slam right into Josuke and his bike. Without even blinking, Josuke had Crazy Diamond throw a barrage of immensely strong jabs, His stand swiftly punching through the metal as both Josuke and his bike soared through the large hole Crazy Diamond had created. Now flying through the interior of the trailer still in motion, the pink-skinned warrior let loose another salvo of extraordinarily fast punches against the wall of the trailer, creating another hole that allowed the high school student to exit the confines of the container.

" _ **DORA!"**_

Having exited the trailer, Josuke was once again flying through the open night sky. And in front of him, a flaming motorcycle similar to his own jettisoned towards his face; shortly behind the bike were two Chevrolets covered in fire that were also heading right for him. Crazy Diamond grabbed the incoming missile of flames and scorched metal by its face, before pulling the bike over its head and then chucking it straight towards the two Chevrolets with as much strength as it could put into its throw. The bike crashed right onto the two sets of car windows, the added weight and downward force causing the two vehicles to fall short of hitting Josuke as his own bike lightly bounced off the top of the car's roof.

" _ **DORA!"**_

Josuke Higashikata didn't even break a single sweat during the avalanche of fire-ravaged vehicles.

As he reached the apex of his flight, Josuke soon found himself descending back to the ground. Looking down at the road, he could partially make out something below him. All the cars in front of him had either accelerated further down the road away from the shower of cars or veered off the wide street, so it was easy to make out the lone object left on the deserted road thanks to sharing his Stand's eyesight.

Sheer Heart Attack waited patiently on the ground, and if it could, it would probably be smirking with its skull like jaw.

Of course, Josuke had been expecting this. Which was why Josuke and Crazy Diamond were enveloped in bright yellow energy.

And why the cars and trucks still descending to the ground were also covered in the same aura.

He wasn't sure if the metallic bomb could hear him from so high up, but just in case it could, he snapped his fingers before uttering one word.

" **Dora."**

Before the vehicles that Crazy Diamond had clobbered were even halfway down to the ground, they stopped in midair for just a few seconds before turning towards the direction of Sheer Heart Attack. Then, as if hurled by an invisible giant, the cars, the truck and the motorcycle all rocket toward Sheer Heart Attack, their metallic faces aimed to crush the tiny bomb.

And then Josuke heard the little bomb shout something at the top of whatever it had that counted for lungs.

" _ **OH, YOU MOTHERFUCK-!"**_

It never finished as the motorcycle was the first to strike its tiny body, hitting the bomb right on its skull face as the force sent it skidding across the road. The three cars were next, crashing right on top of its tiny body as a small pile-up formed; Sheer Heart Attack was now trapped underneath a haphazardly stacked set of wrecked cars. Finally, the truck came down like a metal meteorite, the plummeting projectile hitting the heap of cars with so much strength it crushed the other vehicles before erupting into a giant fireball. Pillars of smoke and fire rose into the air as Josuke landed a short distance away from the explosion, bringing his bike to a stop as he did so.

Josuke looked at the explosion with narrowed eyes. If that didn't stop Sheer Heart Attack, then he had no clue what will. He doubted he could come up with another trick as destructive as this one. And using the vehicles with their owners' dead bodies inside left him with a nauseating amount of disgust in his stomach. He knew they were already dead and if he hadn't he be joining them soon, but he still felt repulsed at what he had just done.

And then, another explosion erupted from the sea of flames, causing the pillars of orange and red to double in size as the scorched and burnt remains of the truck came flying out; the large hunk of metal crashed right into the divides of the two separate lanes. And from the smoldering waves of flames, Sheer Heart Attack rolled forward.

" _ **Is that the best you got, bitch?"**_

_How durable is this thing!_  Hatred filled Josuke's eyes as he clenched the throttles of his bike even tighter. What the hell was he supposed to do now? Electrocuting the bomb didn't work nor did giving it a taste of its own medicine, so what other options did he have left? He hadn't truly noticed until the adrenaline in his body began to fade, but the last explosion he was caught in did a number on his body. His head began to throb with unholy pain, he was sure he was beginning to form a concussion, and the rest of his body was screaming from an agonizing fire sweeping over it. The metallic bomb of Killer Queen's explosions were far more dangerous than before, he wasn't sure if he could take another one considering he wasn't even at full health when the fight began.

_But how the hell am I supposed to defeat something that can't be hurt!_ None of his regular attacks would do anything to damage it. Sheer Heart Attack had yet to suffer a single wound while Josuke-.

Suddenly, he stopped as he noticed something about Sheer Heart Attack. Crazy Diamond's vision was still his own, so he could make out even the smallest details of the bomb even from far away. And what he saw made his eyes widen.

For Sheer Heart Attack actually had cracks in its body.

They were incredibly small cracks of course, a person would only notice them if they were holding it near its face, but the fact remained there were actual chinks in its supposedly indestructible armor.

And then Josuke's brain came up with a solution to defeating this bomb as he his mind flashed back to when he was first searching for ways to get to Beach City.

Without another word, the young Stand User turned his bike around, gripping the throttles as hard as humanly possible, before burning rubber and racing towards the opposite lane. Passing through a gap in the dividers, Josuke entered the opposite stretch of road before he sped down the street as fast as his bike could move, weaving and swerving pass cars so quickly he looked like a black bolt of metal and flesh.

Sheer Heart Attack was quick to follow, already closing in on Josuke at high speeds.

" _ **Get back here you little-!"**_

But Josuke ignored the stream of insults coming out of the tiny bomb's mouth, his mind only focused on refining his plan to ensure it would work.

* * *

She was having a really good time.

Connie took another bite out of her caramel coated apple, a treat that had a high chance of causing her some cavities she'd admit, but right now, she didn't care about that and focused only on having fun. Right now, she was only consumed with eager thoughts for the upcoming fireworks, a blissful smile on her face as the stuffed bunny in her arm matched her giddy expression. Steven would love her newly acquired toy; her best friend always had a fondness for overly big and incredibly plushy things.

Walking down one of the wooden lanes of Funland with booths of all sorts of games flanking her on both sides, she could not help but think about what Steven was doing right now. Her curly-haired friend had told her that as much as he wanted to hang out with her, he couldn't come with her to Funland today. Steven told her that since Lapis, another member of the Crystal Gems Connie had yet to meet, had never seen fireworks before, he wanted to show her the spectacle. Unfortunately, Lapis apparently didn't like leaving the barn she lived in, so Steven had to stay there along with Peridot so that he could give Lapis, in his words, "the best fireworks watching experience possible."

While she was a bit disheartened that her friend wouldn't be able to spend time with her today, she didn't disagree with his decision. Steven had told her a bit of his new family member's past, and from the way he explained it to her, it sounded like Lapis was a Gem who suffered from social issues due to a very painful trauma. She of course immediately understood and encouraged Steven to spend time with the newest addition to his family, telling him not to worry about her.

After all, it was in Steven's nature to aid anyone who was in need of a friend. Asking him not to help someone who was distressed or upset was the same as asking a fish to breathe on land, impossible.

It was one of the reasons she liked him so much. As a friend, of course.

She took another bite of her apple, sticky caramel clinging to her teeth as she looked at the people passing by her. She knew some of them, such as Sadie and Lars who were currently attempting to best the rigged, or so she was told, ring toss game. Both of them pulled their hair in frustration as they once again failed to successfully wrap a ring around one of the glass bottles. Other people she didn't know were enjoying a variety of festive games, a family of three lifting their child over their shoulders so that the kid could properly see over the booth's counter.

_I'm still surprised mom let me go out by myself._ Her mother had not been nearly as overprotective compared to when she and her family first arrived at Beach City, but there were still times when she needlessly fretted over the smallest of details. So, it came as a slight shock that her mom was perfectly fine with her going alone to the amusement park; she herself was occupied with patients at the hospital and her dad was busy with his own job.

Well, that was probably because after training with Pearl in the ways of the sword and going on constant adventures with Steven, she assumed her parents thought she was competent enough to go out on her own.

Her eyes moved towards the sky, which was now almost pitch black, yet the bright lights from the booths and various decorations surrounding the large boardwalk made it seem like it was day. The lights illuminated Funland in an orange hue, and Connie could not help but marvel at all the effort mister Smiley had put into this event. She had always assumed he was a bit of a cheapskate, but seeing this-.

A faint noise caught her ears. It was the flutter of something, not of bird wings, but something far bigger and faster than that. Still looking up towards the sky, Connie could make out the dark shapes of…something flying over Funland. The shapes in the sky perfectly blended in with the darkness of the night sky, and even as she squinted she still couldn't tell what she was looking at.

Suddenly, the shapes in the air were still for a moment, right before they took a nosedive at rather fast speeds. As they continued to descend, the shapes became easier to make out, the lights from Funland pushing away the shadows that obscured their forms as Connie saw…

"Steven?" She said, rubbing her eyes to make sure she wasn't seeing things, eyebrows rising in confusion.

In the sky, diving through the air on the back of a blue woman, was her best friend. As they grew closer, Connie was able to make out more details of the blue women descending towards her. In addition to her sky-blue skin, she had dark blue hair and equally blue long skirt and top. Connie remembered the descriptions Steven used to describe the latest addition to his growing family, and instantly knew that the blue-haired woman with wings made of water was Lapis Lazuli.

She was greatly surprised at seeing not only her friend but also the woman who Steven should be relaxing at the barn with. Had her friend somehow convinced his new family member to venture outside her comfort zone and come to Funland? If so, she had better do her best to make a good first impression. She didn't want to come on too strong, the last thing she wanted was to stress out Ms. Lazuli, yet she also wanted to make sure she didn't think Connie was uninterested in-.

It was then that she noticed their faces.

As both Steven and Lapis continued to descend, now about twenty feet away from the ground, she noticed Lapis' lips were in a tight and grim frown. But what really got her attention was the expression Steven was making. Gone was the usual cheerful glee that was etched into his eyes.

Instead, the only thing Connie saw in her best friend's eyes was an unsettling fear, his features leaking with worry and anxiety. She had never seen her friend look like that, she had never seen him actually look…scared. Even when he was reliving past memories of hurting so many Gems, Steven wasn't scared. He just felt guilty and sorrowful for the deeds he had done.

But the Steven who jumped of Lapis' back after she landed on the wooden floor of Funland did not have any trace of hurtful misery or shameful guilt.

He was just scared.

"Steven, what's wrong?" She asked, throwing her caramel apple away into a nearby garbage can. It landed with a soft clunk as Steven walked right towards her, the two children now standing only a few feet apart.

"Have you seen Peridot?" He asked, and his voice was full of fright. His eyes held nothing but fear as she saw him sweating. Something was very wrong here.

"No, I thought you and her were gonna watch the fireworks with…" She trailed off eyes looking towards the blue Gem, and she saw said Gem staring at her with hints of curiosity in her expression. She suddenly felt awkward, since she had never actually met Lapis and now she was standing not even ten feet away from her. She had yet to introduce herself, and she'd feel rude if she didn't at least acknowledge her presence.

"Oh, right." Steven quickly realized what was wrong before gesturing towards Lapis. "Connie, meet Lapis Lazuli, Gem who can control water." Steven then gestured back to Connie. "And Lapis, this is my best friend Connie, epic sword wielder." The son of Rose Quartz then looked right into Connie's eyes, his own brown irises held immense terror that struck Connie to her core. She was quickly growing to hate seeing her friend like this. "Peridot was supposed to meet us hours ago at the barn, but she never showed up. Connie, something's going on, and it's bad. Something happened to Peridot and we're not sure where to find her."

She had never heard such gloom emitting from Steven's words before; it was so disturbing to see Steven so worried. "Are you sure she's in trouble?" She began, feeling a touch of nervousness rise inside her chest before she continued. Lapis eyes had narrowed slightly at her, though what she was thinking she couldn't tell, her expression was completely blank. "I mean, if you haven't seen her, then how do you know she's not just busy with something." To her, it sounded like a plausible explanation, but the way Steven shook his head with such certainty made it was clear he thought otherwise.

"Peridot would have at least messaged us that she couldn't come, but besides from one we got earlier today, she hasn't contacted any of us. And she wouldn't miss out on this no matter what, me and her have been planning this for a while now. And…" He didn't finish, glancing away from Connie for a moment, eyes gazing at the floor. The fear in his expressions seemed to grow as Connie bit her lower lip.

"And what?" She asked as Steven slowly looked back into her eyes.

"On our way here we saw a big explosion." Lapis was the one who spoke, her face still held no emotion as she finally joined the conversation. Connie's eyes widened at her words. Steven had told her about a Rogue Gem that was so stealthy the other Crystal Gems had yet to catch. A Gem that was so dangerous it could cause massive explosions; the same explosions that Mr. Kofi and Kiki were caught in.

"Do you-." She never finished as Steven quickly interrupted her.

"We think Peridot somehow encountered the Corrupted Gem and that thing's hunting her."

Those words were leaking with hollow despair, and Steven somehow looked even more scared than before. His features were pooling with such agonizing dread that she was sure the son of Rose Quartz might have a panic attack. Slowly moving her gaze away from Steven, she looked at Lapis, and for the first time, she could see actual emotion on her face. There was sorrow wrapping around Lapis' expression as she looked down at the ground.

"We were hoping that she might come here," Lapis said, still not looking up as her bangs cast shadows on her face. "Funland's a lot closer to the town than the barn or the Temple."

Connie immediately racked her brain to see if she had seen even a glance of Peridot since she had first arrived at the amusement park. It was impossible to miss the green-skinned women, everything about Peridot would stand out in an instant even if she had only seen her for one second.

But her mind came up with nothing.

"I'm so sorry, but I haven't seen her," Connie admitted sadly, and Steven looked absolutely devastated as his hand ran through his hair. She could see sparks of anger in Lapis' eyes, one hand clenched into a fist, but along with the anger, there was also remorse spreading throughout her features. Connie tried to think of anything to say, racking her brain for a solution until she found one.

"Have you guys checked every single inch of Funland yet?" She asked, and both tall and short Gem looked at her before shaking their heads. "Then why don't we do that? Just search everywhere and try to see if she's here or at least passed through here. For all we know, She could be looking for us right now."

For the first time since this awful conversation began, Connie saw another emotion besides fear in Steven's face. Hope began to rise in the short Gem's expression, and while it was still smothered by anxiety, it was still there. Lapis' face also looked less sullen, for one moment her deep distress gave way to something brighter. In the next instant, her sorrowful expression returned, but it was not as remorseful as compared to before.

"Yeah, you're right," Steven said before he turned to Lapis. "Lapis, I need you to fly up again and watch Funland from the sky. I know we didn't see anything before, but maybe we missed something." Steven then turned towards Connie. "Me and Connie will search Funland from the ground, and if we don't find anything then…" He trailed off, swallowing audibly before he hesitantly continued. "Then...we meet back here and go look somewhere else."

Connie and Lapis nodded, the latter's wings began to beat rapidly before she took off like a river defying gravity and traveled upwards to the sky. Connie and Steven watched as she soon flew out of sight and began her search.

Connie stared at Steven, who was still looking at the sky with a deeply stressful expression, his right arm openly shaking. Connie could see how troubled her friend was; she could almost feel the stress and fear building inside Steven. Without a moment's hesitation, she placed a hand on his shoulder. Her action seemed to snap him out of his daze as he looked right into her eyes. Her lips quickly moved into a small smile.

"We'll find her Steven, I know we will." Her voice was soft and caring. Each word she spoke held a kindness that showed how much she meant them. With just a few words she was able to soothe the suffocating atmosphere of despair until it completely disappeared.

Those words caused the youngest Gem to relax. Connie herself was surprised at how the tension in his expression faded with just one sentence. She was also surprised at how she knew what to say so easily. Sadness was still prominent in Steven's expression, but it had died down slightly as Steven gave her a tiny smile.

"Yeah, of course we will." He said before grabbing her hand and running down the wooden road. She was about to tell Steven he didn't have to hold her hand, but she stopped herself.

She wasn't sure why, but for some reason, she wanted to keep holding onto to Steven's warm hand.

* * *

She had finally made it.

Peridot stood underneath the wide arch that acted as the gateway to Funland, her breaths coming out as pants as she took a moment to regain her strength. She had been running nonstop without taking a single break, never slowing down and only moving faster as she ran so many miles without ever looking back.

She was sure that if she looked back even once, she would see the unfeeling monster standing right behind her.

The pain from her injuries was made so much worse from her running. Twice while she was fleeing she almost collapsed onto the street before getting up as quickly as she could. Her body suffered through burning agony, and her gemstone felt like it would shatter at any minute. The fissures on her body had also grown longer, now deeper and far more elongated than before she had started to run.

But she had arrived at her destination, and the Kira was nowhere in sight. She supposed that even the Kira wouldn't be able to keep up her with her at the speeds she was going. Now, she needed to find one of her friends immediately, preferably Steven; the throbbing and fiery pain in her forehead was rising with each passing second. Steven would be able to heal her in an instant, so all she had to do was try and find her friend. There was a high chance he would be here, as her message from before she engaged the Kira had told him she was just caught up with something important. So, there was a chance he and Lapis had been at Funland the whole time, and right now she hoped from the bottom of her core they were her.

She walked slowly past the wide arch covered in rainbow-colored balloons, her legs begging her to stop but she ignored their pleas. She went down the wooden panels, weaving through crowds of people who looked at her with raised brows. She paid them no mind as her eyes scanned for any sign of her friends, now walking down a large aisle of carnival booths. Still no sign of Steven or Lapis.

_Calm down, they'll be here. They have to be here otherwise ll'I eb daed._

She stopped walking, the people around her carefully avoiding hitting her as her expression contorted into one of unimaginable horror. The words in her mind were spoken backward, a dangerous sign that she was getting closer and closer to her gemstone breaking. She brought her arms to her face, and in the next second her appendages seemed to turn to pure static. Her arms were buzzing out of reality, the static obscuring them from sight before her arms repapered.

She needed to find Steven right now!

Running as fast as her horribly damaged body would allow, her head whipped in every direction to find the son of Rose Quartz. The swarms of people around her made it hard for her to see anything pass their tall bodies, but she could-.

Suddenly she stopped moving, the cluster of people faded as a joyous smile crossed her face.

She had found Steven.

Not even three dozen feet away, Steven had his back facing her, next to him was his human friend, Connie, at least she thought that was her name.

She had done it; she had survived and now all she had to do was call out to Steven and it would all be over.

Just as she was about to shout his name, just as the unshed tears of joy were about to fall down her face…she found herself unable to speak a single syllable.

For her throat felt like it was being strangled.

Suddenly feeling an immense and incredibly strong force grab her throat, she was unable to say anything other than incoherent grunts and painful yelps. Gems did not need to breathe, but having some invincible force that was insanely powerful wrap something akin to fingers around her throat was still painful.

And then, she felt her body lifted off her feet and thrown towards a nearby booth. No one noticed for it happened in an instant, not any of the people scattered throughout the boardwalk, and certainly not Steven. To anyone watching it would look like she had just vanished from her spot. She had only careened through the air for a moment before she crashed into the wall of the booth.

Searing pain washed over her like a boiling hot wave, unable to even scream from the sheer agony her body was going through. As she continued to scramble on the floor in torture, she noticed that the both she was in was the same one where she had won her favorite alien plushy. The bottles lined up near a table at the center of the floor were now in shattered pieces after she had crashed into them.

And then she noticed the lights from the outside turn to darkness as someone closed the curtains, preventing anyone from peering inside the booth.

And from the corner emerging from the shadows, each step leaking with horrific killing intent was the Kira. His purple eyes glared at her with glacial malevolence. His features were whirling with so much unrestrained hatred that Peridot was crushed underneath the weight of his presence, unable to move as she stared hopelessly at the superior being's face.

The dark monster she had seen before was present in his eyes again as he slowly moved towards her. And then he stomped his foot into the back of her head.

Peridot's head hit the ground with such force there was an audible cracking sound. The horrible agony that one stomp cause made her vision go completely black for a second. She felt her gemstone crack even more, causing burning throbs of intense pain to shoot through her head. She could not look up for the Kira continued to place his shoe against her head with increasing pressure.

"You know, aside from you there has only ever been one green wearing midget who has made me this furious." His voice was low, so much killing intent in his voice it caused the dread coiling inside her to explode. The Kira took his shoe off of Peridot as she looked into his eyes. Eyes that were once again burning with dark fires of hatred. Peridot began to shake from both pain and the sheer terror within her.

"But unlike him, you won't be as lucky. For you see…" His voice trailed off, and a tangible feeling of venomous anger erupted inside the booth. The Kira's mouth was in a snarl as he glared through Peridot's very core. "I'm about to blow you to Kingdom Come! KILLER QUEEN!"

With those words, the man stuck an odd pose. His knees were now bent as he raised his left hand upwards, one finger pointing to the sky on one side as his other hand was pointed downwards with another digit pointing to the ground. His back was bent backward as the hatred he radiated somehow grew. The fear within Peridot was now absolutely massive, it actually made her entire body fizzle out of existence for one second.

"This finger has the power to blow up entire buildings, able to turn anything I want into a bomb." Contempt twisted and rose within the Kira's face like a whirlwind. His eyes were now nothing but a void. "In your case, that visor of yours will make the perfect bomb."

Peridot could do nothing as the Kira brought his left hand down in a chop, the hand on a collision course with her face. Just as the appendage was mere inches from her face, Peridot had one last thought in her mind.

_Everyone, goodbye._  She closed her eyes as tears began to stream down her face.

* * *

Turning so sharply his leg almost touched the road, Josuke raced down another street on his bike, Sheer Heart Attack about fifteen feet behind him.

" _ **DORARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARA!"**_

Crazy Diamond was currently shooting crescent arcs of pressurized liquid right at the tiny bomb. It sliced its fingers against the air so fast that the dripping water on its digits shoot off at high speeds and immediately took the shape of firm and thick arcs. The water Crazy Diamond was using was from assorted bottles of a variety of different drinks Josuke had taken and placed near the seat of his bike. From Gatorade to Pepsi, Crazy Diamond was grabbing the bottles at speeds that even jets paled in comparison too, dabbing its fingers with the assortment of liquids before compressing them into blades of water.

And every single multicolored blade of water hit Sheer Heart Attack head on. And under normal circumstances, those attacks might not have done any damage to the bomb. But Josuke had Crazy Diamond aim at the cracks on the metallic tank, and with stunning accuracy, each arc of compressed water hit the fissures. The cracks grew with each hit his Stand landed, becoming more elongated and deeper with each blade that pierced off more bits of the bomb's armor. Sheer Heart Attack had yet to even notice what Josuke's attacks were doing; instead, only screaming more curses at the young Stand User.

And his attacks weren't only causing the cracks to grow. The water blades were also doing something to would ensure his victory if he could just find-

_There it is!_  Josuke thought, his eyes spotting the building he was looking for to the side of the street he was racing down. He couldn't go to it just yet though, first he had to lose the bomb chasing him.

Revving up the throttle, Josuke's motorcycle sped down the street at even higher speeds, and as he saw an intersection he turned, bike leaning to the right and almost hitting the ground as he entered the new street. He was going so fast that the only way he could make the turn was to drive on the curb, but thankfully this street seemed to be deserted.

Which made what he was about to do a whole lot easier.

" _ **DORARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARA!"**_

Crazy Diamond moved faster than anyone's eyes could follow. Its arms were pink and silver forces of destruction, slamming fist after fist into the buildings its master past on. The strength of each punch was enough to not only shake the foundation of each building, but also enough to launch several large chunks of cement into the air. Josuke's bike moved even faster, Crazy Diamond smashing a tempest of crosses and haymakers at the passing buildings, each tower it struck now had large and gaping holes on their surfaces.

And all those chunks of cement and concrete, all those steel support beams and rebars that made up the interiors of the buildings, crashed into a large trail of debris. The massive piles of rocks and cement gathered right behind him, it was so tall and wide that Josuke could no longer see the mouth of the street.  

But he could see the explosions erupting into the air on the other side though, hunks of burnt concrete launched through the sky as the pile shook like an earthquake had passed through the area.

Josuke knew that within less than a minute, the pile would be gone and reduced to ash. But he just needed the pile to stall Sheer Heart Attack.

Once he reached the end of the street he turned right at the junction, before making several more turns and eventually reaching the small building he had seen before.

The words "Antarctic Ice-Cream" were written in bright purple words on a black sign near the roof.

Josuke entered the small store and looked around. It looked like a typical ice cream parlor; small tables were located near the smooth glass windows, there was a glass display case showing the variety of different flavors and a long blue counter right next to the case with a cash register on top of it.

But where this shop differed from other ice cream stores was that it made a  _very_ unique blend of the frozen treat. Josuke hopped over the counter and looked underneath it. There was an arrangement of mixers, but what really caught Josuke's eye was the large, gray, stainless steel container. It had a round, circular lid about the size of a football that acted as its cover, and when Josuke saw the symbol written on its front he knew this was the object he was looking for.

And just in time to, for an explosion erupted from just outside the windows, causing shards of glass to fly in all directions as the plumes of fire swallowed a large portion of the store. Josuke ducked down behind the counter, able to save himself from the glass as he could feel the heat from the blast of fire. When he stood back up, He saw Sheer Heart Attack jump through the broken windows and land on the black tiled floor of the store.

" _ **No more running, you piece of-!"**_ Josuke did not let it finish as he had Crazy Diamond materialize into existence before it lifted the silver container off the ground. In the time it took Josuke to blink, his Stand had punched a hole into the canister, mist-like gas breaking out of its prison in quick bursts before the pink-skinned warrior grabbed the vessel with both hands and chucked it right at Sheer Heart Attack.

The tiny bomb was able to easily dodge it, tank treads moving to the left at high speeds as the container missed the metallic bomb. The strength Crazy Diamond had put into its throw had caused the container to break in half on impact, white mist consuming the air as an almost colorless water spilled onto the ground.

Of course, Josuke expected that to happen. Which was why a yellow aura soon surrounded the water, mist, and container.

In an instant, the two halves were flying through the air, the water on the floor picking itself up and placing itself back into the two halves of its once whole vessel. The mist soon followed, the containers sucking the gas up like a vacuum as it continued to glide with the wind.

Straight towards Sheer Heart Attack.

The two containers approached Sheer Heart Attack from both sides before they flew towards the other, picking up the tiny bomb as it reformed back into its original shape, not a drop of the water left on the floor. The silver container looked brand new as it landed back on the floor amongst the broken shards of glass.

And within five seconds, the container exploded. The familiar orange and red flames erupted into the air, but this time was different. This time, the flames were smaller, and the plumes of smoke that usually accompany them were noticeably less thick and slimmer. In fact, the white mist that had erupted from the container was more prominent in the store than the smoke, trailing along the ground and spreading into the corners of the shop.

" _ **Dumbass, what was the…point… of…that?"**_ Sheer Heart Attack's words were less loud than before, with each word it spoke its voice seemed to grow weaker, slower even. It sounded like it had something clinging to the back of its throat, if it had one that is. Josuke smirked as he saw what was causing the tiny bomb's slower speech.  

Large sheets of ice now covered Sheer Heart Attack's body, half of its skull surrounded by ice. Its tank treads were encased by the frigid ice, looking like frozen waves that trapped its wheels to the spot.

" _ **What…was…in that container?"**_

Josuke smiled as he calmly jumped over the counter, his Stand floating a few feet behind him.

"Before I answer that question, let me tell you this world is really advanced." He said, scratching the back of his neck with a carefree air hanging around him. "I mean it still sucks being here, but I have to admit technology has come a long way since 1999. Seriously, the internet evolving to the point where you can access data from across the planet, video games looking like real life and hell, this place is actually getting close to building  _sentient robots._  This world's technology is frightening, the threat of  _the Terminators_ rising against mankind is almost a damn reality."

Josuke chuckled as he began to walk towards the bomb.

"But no matter how advanced the future is, some things never change. Tourist traps being one of them. And while I was researching ways to get to Beach City, I ended up finding out some information about some famous places here. Most of it was pretty boring, but one of the spots I remember was this little store here. See, this store makes a unique brand of ice-cream with a certain  _ingredient._ An  _ingredient_  I don't think a lot of people back in our world used that much. I can't really blame them, though. I mean…"

Josuke trailed off, his eyes looking towards one of the broken pieces of the container. On its face were the letters  _LN2._

"I don't think a lot of people had the bright idea to use  _liquid nitrogen_ in cooking." Josuke finished, his smirk turning into a wide smile.

" _ **Liquid…nitrogen..."**_ Sheer Heart Attack slowly stated, its body shaking against the ice trapping it in an attempt to break free, but to no avail.  _ **"You fucking… smug ass… I'll just blow this ice-."**_

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Josuke said, his eyes gleaming with mock urgency as he held up a hand. "See, I don't think you notice, but after you got crushed underneath all those cars from before, cracks formed in your armor." Josuke did not wait for a response as he continued. "And after I saw that, I remembered a basic science lesson even an elementary school student would know. Remember how I had Crazy Diamond attack you with those blades of water? Well, in addition to making sure you stayed in place when after I threw the liquid nitrogen, since then it could go even deeper into your body due to the cracks, it also let me fill your inside with water."

His smile gained a predatory edge before he continued. "Now, when water freezes it expands. But metal? Well, metal doesn't expand, so that means all that frozen soda inside you is growing bigger and bigger, until eventually-."

Right on time, one of the side plates of Sheer Heart Attack armor came flying off, spiraling through the air as it lodged itself into the wall.

"There's no more room for the water to grow, so it just makes some more room. It literally burst from within your tiny metal gears. So if you explode again, well…it might not end well for you since your armors so weak now." 

" _ **You…"**_  Sheer Heart Attack's voice was laced with so much contempt its anger from before seemed like a mild spark of irritation. That one word leaked with so much fury Josuke honestly thought it might just melt the ice encasing the bomb. But there was something else within the massive outrage. He could hear red-hot pain that was most likely running rampant on Sheer Heart Attack's body underneath all of the anger.  _ **"You…"**_

Josuke enjoyed the rage emitting from the little bomb, crouching down and looking right at its half-frozen face.

"Relax, Relax, I would never let you go through something so painful." A purple aura surrounded Josuke as Crazy Diamond cracked its knuckles. "No, Instead…"

His features were crackling with vindictive glee; he seemed like a predator who had just caught its prey.  

" **I'm just gonna end your suffering now."**

And Crazy Diamond _destroyed_ the bomb.

" _ **DORARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARA!"**_

Crazy Diamond seemed to grow a thousand pairs of arms in an instant, pounding away at the metallic bomb at speeds that redefined what it meant to be fast. Each fist that hit the bomb packed enough force to cause deep dents in its teal plated armor, the bomb screaming like a demented banshee with each attack that landed. Throwing crosses so fast its arms looked more like miniature trains of pink and silver, each punch that descended on Sheer Heart Attack made a sound similar to machine gun fire echo throughout the ice cream parlor. The barrage of swift and furious punches easily demolished the ice covering the metallic bomb, sending bits of its metal armor flying in all direction as his Stand moved even faster with each passing second. A gale of fierce winds was sweeping through the store due to the insane velocity his stand was moving. And Sheer Heart Attack continued to let out the most agonizing scream Josuke had ever heard a man make, and for one moment something cruel entered his expression. Something made of only hatred.

" _ **DORA!"**_

Crazy Diamond pulled its arm back and threw one last punch at speeds that made intense gales swirl around its fist before the most destructive cross known to man hit Sheer Heart Attack right in the center of its skull face. The blow sent the bomb straight to the floor, easily piercing the tiles as a hole so deep Josuke could not see the end of it formed on the ground.

And though he could not see the bomb anymore, he did see several wisps of black dust rise from the hole.

"When you see your master again, tell him I said you're next." And with that, Josuke walked out of the ice cream store and back out into the streets. He noticed that this time the injuries he had gotten from this fight were not nearly as bad as the ones from his last one. His body still felt like someone has just put a hot iron in every spot imaginable, but he could still walk and stay conscious.

_Beach City, here I come._

And with that thought, Josuke walked towards his parked motorcycle, which had miraculously survived the explosion from before with only a few scorch marks, sat on the seat, and drove off.

**[Sheer Heart Attack]**

**[The Second Bomb]**

**[Status: Retired]**

* * *

"GAH!"

The moment she heard the Kira scream, she thought that would be the last thing she'd ever hear. It only took her a moment to realize that one, his hand had yet to make contact with her. And the second thing was that the Kira scream had been one of intense pain.

Peridot's eyes shot open as she saw the Kira step backward, holding his hand that for some reason was now covered in deep gashes. Blood dripped from his hand as she saw him gnash his teeth together, a bit of sweat rolling down his forehead.

And she realized that, as he was busy cradling his hand, this was her only chance to escape.

Without wasting another second, she stood up and jumped through the curtains, the lights from the outside temporally blinding her as she landed painfully on the ground.

And then she shouted as loudly as her voice would allow.

"STEVEN!"

* * *

Lapis had been flying for a while now, deep blue eyes looking at Funland from the sky as she tried to find her friend. She tired her best to ignore the worry rising inside her chest, but her thoughts were still ravaged by fear and dread. She had never thought she could ever be so distraught over someone else who wasn't Steven, but her little green friend had somehow managed to do just that. Somehow she had become one of the few people she cared about.

And when she heard a familiar voice shout with despair twisting her every word, it shocked her right to her core.

"STEVEN!"

* * *

Connie had been searching with Steven for about fifteen minutes now. They had asked dozens of people if they had seen Peridot, but none of them did. It was starting to look like that maybe Peridot was not here after all.

And the worse part was seeing Steven suffering each time someone said no. Seeing her friend's expression course with dread was hard to watch. Each second that passed Steven seemed to become more fearful; she could see the cold despair spreading throughout his features.

And she knew that unless Peridot was quickly found, Steven might just-.

"STEVEN!"

That voice was instantly recognizable. It was unmistakably Peridot's, maybe a bit rougher than usual, but it was still her voice. But what caught her attention was the pure terror evident in that one word. She could practically feel it, and could not even begin to imagine what on earth was causing the Gem to feel such fear.

Slowly, she turned her head towards Steven.

* * *

She had to be here. She just had to.

So far he and Connie had found no sign of Peridot, and no one else had seen her either. His thoughts were consumed by images of Peridot running. All he could see was her scared, terrified face as she begged for help. Fear coiled around his heart as he continued to search with Connie. He was sure Peridot was in trouble, and he needed to find her right-.

"STEVEN!"

That scream was filled with such much horror and despair Steven felt his heart stop. That voice, that was usually so peppy and so vibrant, was suddenly made of nothing but terror.

That voice belonged to Peridot.

He immediately ran towards the direction the voice came from. He heard Connie shout something at him, but he didn't hear her.

Right now, all he could hear was Peridot shouting his name.

* * *

Every single time.

Ever since Shigechi, every time Kira was about to end a nuisance to his life, someone or something always came in at the last second to save his victim.

So when his hand exploded in bright red bursts of blood and the little alien had taken that as her cue to jump out of the booth, he was more annoyed than surprised by this sudden reversal.

He had placed his bleeding hand in his jacket pocket before he walked outside through a door in the back of the booth. He was now facing the other side of the booth, entering another area of the amusement park as he continued to walk past more carnival games and crowds of people.

"STEVEN!"

That voice should have made him furious at losing another victim due to convenient circumstances. He should have been angry that the little alien had escaped him; he should have heard nothing but the dark shadows in his mind screaming at him to go back and kill the girl.

But he wasn't angry. Mildly irritated, but not angry

Because she hadn't escaped him.

Just before she had fully exited the booth, Killer Queen had touched her leg.

* * *

Her body was still phasing in and out of reality, her consciousness slipping into a black abyss that got closer and closer. She could actually hear her gemstone cracking, the agony in her forehead somehow reaching new levels of torture as she tried desperately to stand up. Darkness was slowly overtaking her vision, and for all she knew the Kira would jump out from the booth at any moment and kill her.

She had to move, she had to get away from the slowly growing crowd of people or else they might get hurt too. She had to find-!

"Peridot!"

That voice made her eyes widen. That voice somehow gave her the strength to push past her pain and stand up, slowly weaving through the worried crowd gathered around her.

And then she saw him again.

Steven was running down the boardwalk, his earth friend Connie quickly flowing him. And from the dark skies Lapis had swooped down and underneath the bright light of the boardwalk a few feet behind the running Steven before she saw her. Her expression was similar to Steven's and Connie's, wide-eyed and shocked. A mixture fear and intense worry.

But despite her friends' expressions she could not help but smile. She had lived, she had survived the Kira and with Steven's help, she'd be good as new. She ran as fast as her legs would allow, already quickly closing the distance between them; even though her body was in such agony.

A broad smile was plastered on her face as she finally felt safe after the nightmare she had just gone through.

* * *

The only reason he was irritated was because she had drawn a crowd. Kira could hear the murmurs of the crowd gathering on the other side and heard the prepubescent boy shout his latest victims name at the top of his lungs. While he would have preferred to kill her in a more private location, that option was no longer viable.

His only regret was that he wouldn't get to see her expression before she bit the dust. He always liked seeing the last looks any of his victims gave him before they turned into nothing but ash. He was sure her expression would have been delightful.

Oh well…

"I told you already," Kira slowly brought his right arm up and held it near his sides. Behind him, Killer Queen mirrored his action as both he and his Stand lifted their right thumbs. "The moment you choose to confront me was the moment your fate was sealed."

And with that last low and unfeeling whisper, Kira brought his thumb down. There was an audible click that resounded through the area.

He wondered what he should make for dinner.

* * *

He had never seen the green Gem look so injured before. He had never seen any Gem have so many cracks on their skin, not even Amethyst when she had accidentally injured her gemstone. It was a horrifying sight to see her in such an awful state; to see her so injured and hurt, to see just how much pain she had gone through just by looking at her eyes.

It physically hurt Steven to see Peridot like this as his heart slammed against his ribs.

He immediately licked his hands, his healing saliva dripping off his fingers as he got closer. Connie and Lapis right behind him.

Peridot had a smile on her face, tears welling up in her eyes.

"STEVEN!" She shouted her voice distorted and rough as the tears poured down her face. "LAP-."

She never finished.

Time seemed to slow to a crawl for Steven.

Orange fire erupted from within the cracks of Peridot's skin, her expression going from one of joy to one of pure agony. The flames continued to grow, the cracks now deep gashes as her body literally crumbled. Arms, fingers, neck, legs and every other piece of her body broke, now nothing more than little pieces of something that was once a person before the plumes of fire completely swallowed them. The explosion that had come from within Peridot had grown to enormous heights in less than a second, easily dwarfing the nearby booths and people as the scorching heat from the blast burned Steven severely.

All while Steven watched from point-blank range as his friend exploded. All while the boy's eyes widened and unrelenting horror screamed throughout his expression.

And then the force of the explosion sent him, Lapis and Connie careening through the air. The son of Rose Quartz crashed into a garbage can, spilling its contents onto the floor as he moaned from the pain shooting up his spine. He could hear people screaming, he could see them running as he slowly opened his eyes.

But his thoughts were not on the possibly hurt people; instead, they were only on how he had just seen one of his family blow up.

He ran, pushing through the screaming and panic crowd back towards where Peridot once stood. The pillars of flames now occupied the spot his friend once occupied, but within the flames, he saw something.

Without a single thought for his safety, he rushed through the flames, the fire burning his skin and singing his clothing before he grabbed the object and ran back the way he came.

Once he was outside the flames, he collapsed to his knees as he stared at the object in his hand.

Peridot's gem.

Once a sparkling green peridot, now broken into several pieces of black and burned rock.

At some point, Connie and Lapis stood over him. Connie had her hands over her mouth, eyes wide with shock. Lapis eyes just stared at the Gem that had been once her friend, not even blinking or moving; her expression was completely blank as she just stared with an open mouth.

Tears were falling down his eyes, his breaths coming out in sobbing hiccups as he raised his shaking hand covered in his healing spit and brought it down to Peridot's gem.

It didn't even twitch, still just burnt pieces of a once wonderful person.

Memories flashed through his mind of the Gem. Times where she had been an enemy, moments where she had been happy and laughing along with him and Amethyst. Her learning to care about the earth, her standing up for it against Yellow Diamond. Her smiling when she had finally made friends with Lapis even though she kept coldly rejecting her. Her just.. being Peridot. A caring Gem who he had come to love like the rest of his family.

And now she was dead.

The flashes of past memories continued. The pain within him growing so much he felt his heart shatter just like her gemstone as tears continued to fall down his face, right onto the broken pieces of Peridot.

Connie was also crying, uncontrollable tears descending down her face as she crouched down and hugged Steven tightly. Lapis' control of her emotions finally broke as she also began to cry, the anguish on her expression may have been even greater than Steven's own. She tried to wipe away the tears, but they just kept falling until eventually, she collapsed to her knees. Her hands covered her face but behind them the tears still continued to fall, her entire body shaking as Steven continued to cry with his best friend's arms around him.

All three of them continued to weep, the flames from the explosions continuing to spread as the screams of the people began to fade away.

And then, the fireworks started.

**[Peridot]**

**[Member of the Crystal Gems, Beloved Genius, Loyal Friend, and Kind Soul]**

**[Status:… Shattered]**

_To Be Continued~_


	8. Tranquil

It had never been so quiet before in the Crystal Temple. Not once had the base for the Crystal Gems felt smothered by such a bitter silence.

Never had the place she called home felt so hollow.

Standing right in front of a glowing pink bubble, Garnet watched the translucent orb float up and down periodically, her eyes never leaving the magenta ball even for a moment.

There were so many bubbles located in the Burning Room, so many Gems that had suffered through so much. Once sane people had now been turned into mindless beasts. Those Gems had gone through a fate worse than death, and their little prisons did nothing to heal them. The only things the bubbles did were incarcerate the Corrupted Gems in a place where they would no longer harm anyone, and save them from having to live another day in agony.

To save them from desperately trying to piece together their shattered minds when doing so was futile.

There were so many poor Gems in this room. Some of them had been allies, people who she proudly fought in the war with and friends who she would have gladly lay down her life for. Some were even warriors she fought against, people who had tried to kill her and her friends so many times in the past. Others were Gems she had never even met, just people who were marked by fate to go through torture that would leave them as nothing more than husks of instincts and anguish.

Each and every Gem in this room told a story. Each and every Gem that floated in the chamber had once been something whole, something that could choose and create new paths for themselves. Each shattered shell that had been a person with limitless possibilities in their future were now reduced to nothing more than animals.

It might have been kinder to end these things that had once been Gems.

Yet, despite all the pain radiating throughout the room, despite the sorrow that hung itself around the air, Garnet could not focus on any of the despair that was always present—to her—in this chamber.

For right now, she could only focus on the dread raging within her body. From her right eye, a single tear ran down her face.

She had no idea how long she had been down here, but right now, time did not matter to the leader of the Crystal Gems. She could still see the events of the last day play through her mind in vivid clarity. She could still see it all, and every time she replayed the events in her head, the pain in her chest rose and clawed at her very core.

She had just gotten back with the others, the Warp Pad still glowing a faint blue as they walked into the living room of the Beach House. They had found nothing about the Rogue Gem, and as Pearl was mentioning possible theories as to how the Gem kept avoiding them, Amethyst was making jokes about how they were fine; how they would find the Rogue Gem and how the "big bad Gem" wouldn't know what hit it.

And then the door flung open.

Steven was the first one through as he collapsed to his knees. His clothes were burnt, the star in the center of his chest was no longer its usual vibrant yellow, but instead, it was a charred black. Connie soon followed, clothes covered in soot and several cuts present on her skin as Lapis stood behind her, clothes and skin just as burned as the other two humans.

And what instantly drew the Gem's attention were how tears were freely falling from everyone's faces. Connie was covering her mouth as sadness swirled throughout her expression, her eyes looking at the ground as she choked out something through her sobs. Lapis, who had never shown any emotion whatsoever to the three Gems outside of sarcasm, who always gave them blank looks, was now openly sobbing as her entire body trembled. It looked like she might collapse at any moment as more and more tears fell from her eyes.

And Steven… Steven was the worse out of any of them. His eyes were wide and full of pain, dread and gloom pooled in his expression as he cried even more than both Lapis and Connie. Never had any of the Gems seen their Steven like this. The boy's once joyful and beaming chocolate brown eyes no longer contained any hint of cheer or hope. Instead, they were now two pits of despair, features twisted by horrible anguish. His cries continued to grow louder as his body trembled harder by the moment.

The sight left the three Gems staring at the three with wide eyes, unable to even ask the simplest question. But it was obvious to Garnet that all three Gems staring at the three weeping members of their group had the same question in mind.

What had happened to make their friends and family radiate an almost physical sorrow?

And it was at that moment, that Steven extended out his shaking hands, unclasping his fingers and revealing the contents within them.

At first, Garnet had no idea what Steven was showing her. The objects in the son of Rose Quartz's hands looked like burnt rocks. They were broken, that much was obvious from the cracks on their skin, but what had it once been? Garnet knew it had to be something very important, something that was so obvious that even with her powers she was missing; and yet, she couldn't figure out what the shattered object in Steven's hand was. Around her, Pearl and Amethyst were wondering the same thing she was, and then in the midst of his crying, Steven was able to get out one word.

It was almost incoherent due to his loud sobbing, but Garnet was able to hear the one word as if Steven had shouted it right in her face.

Peridot.

With that one word, Garnet found herself drowning underneath tides of shock. Her chest suddenly felt like it had been ripped open from the inside, her three eyes widening behind her visor.

Amethyst and Pearl had similar reactions, the latter letting out a gasp as she covered her mouth with both hands, eyes wide. Amethyst eyes bulged out her sockets, running towards Steven and the others all while shouting "no, no, no!" over and over again, each word growing in volume. Once she reached Steven, she immediately wiped away at some of the soot covering the splintered pieces or rock in Steven's hands.

And underneath the ash, dull green skin was revealed.

That was all the confirmation the three original Crystal Gems needed.

Amethyst dropped to her knees, pushing aside her long hair as she stared at the broken pieces of Peridot with both of her eyes. Tears now fell like rivers from her eyes as she held Steven's hands in a death grip. She kept muttering "Peri, no." throughout her sobs, her head lowered to the floor as the tears continued to flow down her face.

Pearl had a similar reaction, her knees crashing to the floor as she could no longer stand, hands still covering her mouth. Tears full of sorrow and grief descended down her ivory face. There was a sickening familiarity in the white Gems eyes, as if had seen this so many times before. As if having her very being crushed under the weight of immense grief was something she should have been used to by now.

But Pearl would always cry never-ending tears whenever she lost someone she loved. No one could ever get used to that.

And as everyone continued to cry, as the sorrow permeating the room seemed to only grow colder with each second that past, Garnet stood perfectly still. She was too shocked to move, her eyes unblinking as within her body a storm of panic and confusion quickly took over her mind.

How? How was this possible? Steven should have been with Peridot and Lapis at the barn right now, watching fireworks and laughing. Peridot should have been watching the explosions in the sky with her two friends, seated comfortably in the truck sticking out of the barn. She should have been enjoying herself as she watched the sky light up with a multitude of colors.

She should be alive. But she wasn't.

She had seen her friend's death in a future that seemed impossible to happen. In a timeline full of so much pain and darkness she could barely stand to look at it for more than a few seconds before pushing it away. She had seen this possible path just before she left with the others, and she was certain that the circumstances that happened in that future could never happen.

But it did. And despite the fact she could see into the future, she did nothing to stop it.

Ruby and Sapphire, the two Gems that made up her very being, were in turmoil. For a second, the room changed and transformed into a different environment. No longer did Garnet stand within the Beach House or with her friends and family, but instead she was in a wide and seemingly endless stretch of black, ceramic tiled floor. She now stood underneath a sky colored with the deepest shade of blue imaginable, the stretch of land dyed in an eerie Azure glow from the blue light casting down from the sky.

And underneath the dark blue glimmers of light, she saw the two gems that made up her very core weeping in each other's arms.

Sapphire's hair was covering her face, but Garnet could still see the tears streaming down her face from her single eye. There was no trace of her usual stoicism, the blue Gem giving up on pushing down her emotions as she let out all of her pain and heartbreak through her tears. Beneath her dress, large and compact sheets of ice were spreading over the ground, completely encasing it as the ice continued to grow and cover more patches of the tiles. Her hands were clutching the love of her life's back with great strength, white gloves wrinkling under the stress.

Ruby was in a similar situation; her face burned with rage and sadness contorted her expression as she clutched at Sapphire's back. Tears made of hot anger along with sorrow ran down her face—there was nothing but misery and fury pooling in her eyes. Her lips were in a firm line, never opening her mouth and instead choosing to glare at the floor right behind Sapphire. Beneath her feet, the ground began to melt, wisps of steam rising into the air as more of the tiles began to turn to black sludge.

The blazing embodiment of Ruby's anger met with the personification of Sapphire's freezing sorrow in a violent collision. The ice and invisible heat did not release steam, but instead, swarms of butterflies rose and fluttered high into the air. Their wings and bodies were made from an otherworldly white light, the hundreds of tiny, almost phantasmal insects flew closely together, looking like a tendril of pure light as they continued to ascend. Slowly, the massive swirling tendril of butterflies began to separate, the upper body splitting down the middle and creating two new tendrils from the sliced body as they twisted and merged with the other into a new shape.

The butterflies began to take the shape of Peridot. The only parts that still resembled the insects made of light were the lower half that supported the upper body of Peridot. The copy of her friend had a broad grin, pointing a finger at the sky and talking a mile a minute.

It was too much for Garnet to watch. Already she could feel her form dissolving, her consciousness fading back into both Ruby and Sapphire's. Tears were now openly falling from all three of her eyes as she collapsed to her knees. And once again she was back in the living room with all her crying friends.

She had no idea how long they all cried, in fact, she was surprised she was still able to keep her form together despite how difficult it was amidst the regret stabbing at her core. Peridot still consumed her mind as the pain and anguish in her chest rose with each flash of memory involving the green Gem. Amethyst had moved towards the couch and chosen to sob quietly into the cushions, Connie was kneeling on the floor along with Lapis by the corner of the room both sobbing uncontrollably. Pearl was still in the same spot as before, her crouching body now leaning against the kitchen counter and through the tears, Garnet saw her eyes held nothing but anguish mixed with massive regret.

And then, she looked up and saw Steven's face.

Eyes red from all the crying he had done, tears still streamed down his face, but his expression was different from before. His face no longer had any sorrow, or grief, or misery, but instead was…hollow. He was exhausted, his emotions have long since given out, but his body was still experiencing the agony of losing someone he loved.

He was...despondent. A word Garnet thought she'd never use to describe the boy she loved. Steven's eyes now held the vacant look of a man who had given up on everything they'd ever believed in; the look of a person who had just lost something they'd never get back, no matter what he tried.

She had to help him. Right. Now.

Slowly, she got up, not even bothering to wipe away the tears as she walked towards Steven. Her footsteps disrupted the atmosphere clinging with sorrow as everyone looked up at her, except for Steven.

Once she reached the young child, whose arms were still held out, she crouched down and placed her hand on his shoulder. Puffy brown eyes slowly looked up towards her before she spoke.

"Steven…" Her voice was so weak, not even close to the usually strong and commanding tone that always accompanied her words. Her voice was as quiet as a whisper, shaky and fragile as a leaf in powerful gales of wind. But still, she pressed on, even though the misery and pain coursing from within her very essence was literally tearing her apart. She removed her visor as her three eyes stared into Steven's hopeless brown pupils.

"I'm so sorry; you're going through sorrow no one should ever have to grow through. I...I know right now it seems like the world around you is made of nothing but agony, that your heart is being crushed over and over again, but I promise…" Her arms wrapped around Steven, embracing him a tight hug. "We'll get through this." Her grip on Steven tightened as she brought him even closer to her body. "Somehow, all of us will overcome this pain."

Steven's only response was to sob even harder. Garnet could feel his tears on her torso as his head rested against her chest. The others around her were still crying, but they were now all looking at both her and Steven, slowly standing up and approaching the two Gems.

After several minutes, Steven finally broke away from Garnet's hug as the leader of the Crystal Gems gently grabbed the scorched and shattered pieces of Peridot from Steven's hand. With tears still freely falling as she placed back her visor, the two Gems on her hands were covered in a white glow before a pink bubble suddenly emerged from within the light. Inside the bubble, the broken pieces of Peridot floated within the space of the pink orb as Garnet held the ball between her hands.

"Wha-What are you going to do with her?" Steven asked through his tears, the rest of the crying Gems and one human formed a small circle around her and Steven. It was evident to Garnet that everyone wanted to ask the same thing, but were too busy wallowing in their despair to even open their mouths.

"We give her the peace she deserves," was Garnet's only answer.

And so, everyone went through the door in the back of the room and headed to the Burning Room. Once there, everyone gathered around the pink bubble containing Peridot's remains. They then placed their hands on the bubble, Amethyst and Lapis saying their last goodbyes while the rest were too consumed by their suffering to say anything. Steven was the last one to remove his hand before Garnet let go of the bubble as it floated towards the ceiling and joined a group of other pink orbs filled with Gems.

And with her future vision, Garnet could only see timelines that ended with more death and pain. Despair seemed to be the only thing waiting in future for the Crystal Gems. It was just as horrifying as before when she had been assaulted by sudden visions full of immense agony all those months ago. The only reason she didn't defuse like last time was that she was needed. Steven, and even the other Gems, needed their leader to guide them through this painful time.

After standing in the graveyard of Gems for who knows how long, eventually they all left the Burning Room. Steven and Lapis were the last ones to go, both Gems staring at the orb floating near the ceiling with tears running down their faces before finally leaving along with the rest.

Once they traveled through the temple and back to the Beach House's living room, Garnet had decided to call Greg. Steven needed his father, a human who could empathize with his son far better than any of the Gems could. She explained the entire situation over the phone, and judging from the stunned silence that hung over the line once she finished talking, she could tell Greg was hurt by the news. While he barely knew Peridot, Greg was a loving and caring person who deeply wished for other people to be as happy as his son was. Greg was a man who valued the life's of everyone, even people he did not like as rare as they were, and was one of the reasons why she respected him so much.

So hearing that someone he knew died, hearing the pain and sadness in her voice grow with each word she spoke to him, listening quietly as Garnet revealed his  _son_ had seen someone die…it probably made this the worst phone call he had ever received.

After a long moment of silence, Greg told Garnet in a shaky voice he would come to the Beach House to pick up both Steven and Connie. The latter's parents were probably not even aware of what had happened at the amusement park since Greg hadn't even heard about it till right now. Greg then gave Garnet a quiet whisper of "I'm so sorry." That one word was full of so much remorse Garnet could imagine Greg standing near his van with tears brimming in his eyes.

A single barely restrained sob echoing over the line just before Greg hung up confirmed she was right.

Everyone then sat in silence, each Gem and human choosing a different spot to grieve as the endless tears continued to descend down everyone's faces.

And suddenly, Steven's voice broke the sorrowful hush.

"It-It was the Gem." His voice was so meek, so broken that Garnet was shocked that this was the same boy she had said goodbye to not even six hours ago. "Th-The Corrupted Gem…did this. We…" His voice trailed off as he began to sob even harder than before, his entire body trembling as his eyes drowned with grief. "She died… Right in front of us. We didn't see it but…it had to be the Gem. Peridot's dead…" His breathing became heavily labored, intense regret dripping from each word he spoke; the air around Steven was consumed by sorrow and guilt that leaked from the child's body. "Because we…because we didn't stop it."

No one said anything in response to that. They all just stared at Steven, eyes still glistening with tears before everyone lowered their heads and looked at the floor.

Garnet knew why. After all, what would be the point in denying the truth?

When Greg had finally arrived, he looked like he was in physical pain from just staring at one of the Gems and humans for only a second. He quickly ran to Steven and embraced him in a tight hug, fingers digging into his burnt shirt as he glanced at the floor. A sickening familiarity entered his eyes, similar to the look Pearl had when she first heard the awful news.

Steven returned the hug, but it was clear by the way his arms loosely wrapped around his father that his mind was elsewhere. The vacant glint in his eyes told Garnet the child she loved could only feel despair as he cried.

And there was nothing she could do to help him. The tangible feelings of pure anguish radiating from Steven's features made it clear to her that no words would help him right now.

Greg picked his son up before walking over to Connie and crouched down towards her with Steven held against his shoulder. He scooped Connie up with his free arm as the little girl wrapped her arms around Greg's neck in a tight embrace. Garnet could hear Connie's tiny sobs as her grip grew tighter, Greg gently patting her on the back before he turned and faced the rest of the Gems. He opened his mouth as if he was about to say something, but he quickly closed it. Greg then went towards the door before pushing it open and leaving the Beach House with two crying children in his arms.

Several minutes after Greg left, Lapis was the next one to leave. Her eyes were empty, her expression completely void of any emotion. The tears falling from Lapis' eyes were the only indication of the turmoil ripping her very core to shreds. As she exited the house, she slammed the door shut, and through the windows, Garnet saw her fly off until she eventually flew out of sight.

She looked towards the only two remaining Gems. Pearl was sitting on one of the seats near the kitchen counter, tears running down her face, shoulders trembling as she gazed at the wall in front of her. Amethyst was sitting on the couch, knees huddled against her chest as cold tears continued to descend down her purple skin.

Garnet wanted to say something, but she doubted any of her words would have an impact on her friends right now. The sorrow and bleak despair in her features would only be a reminder to her friends as to what they just lost.

So instead, she walked away from her two friends and back into the Crystal Temple. She then traveled to the Burning Room, grabbed Peridot's bubble from the ceiling, and just stared at it.

Which led to her current situation.

The pink orb continued to hover in the air as Garnet wiped away the single strand of tears on her face. She could see that within her very core, underneath the dark blue sky, Ruby had somewhat composed herself as she had finally stopped crying. Sorrow still swirled in her features, but she was still able to soldier on and stop her tears.

Ruby had to be strong for the love of her life.

Sapphire was in a worse state; her crying had only decreased slightly as she kneeled on the tiled floor. Her gloved hands still covering her face as she trembled, misery rushing throughout her features. There were no sheets of ice forming underneath her dress, but the cold sadness that hung from the atmosphere made a frosty wind flutter through the dream-like world.

She knew that Sapphire would blame herself for this, blame herself for not acting on a vision that seemed like an impossible timeline. Even after so many years, she could never tell when or how one of her friends would die; always just as blind as most people as to what fate had in store for her and her family.

It was at moments like these that Garnet wished neither she nor Sapphire had the power to see the future.

Letting out a deep sigh, she grabbed the bubble from underneath its smooth surface and gave it a gentle push upward. It floated back to the ceiling as Garnet walked out of the Burning Room.

She needed to see her team.

Walking through the door that led into the heart of the Crystal Temple, Garnet stood still as she looked at the living room. It was cloudy now, but there were still faint beams of sunshine shining down from the sky through the windows.

Her gaze lingered at the remorseful expression Pearl had on as she looked at the counter. Pearl was standing a few feet away from the table, arms placed near the edge as she did not seem to notice Garnet's presence. Everything about Pearl, from her fragile stance to the way her features seemed to twist and bend with melancholy, showed only a fraction of the agony she was going through.

Garnet's eyes traveled towards Pearl's gemstone, and after a moment's pause, she slowly walked past the Warp Pad to her friend. Once she reached Pearl, she just stood right next to her without uttering a word. Pearl did not look up to face Garnet, her eyes held a hazy gleam that made it clear to Garnet that her friend was lost in her own world of pain and sadness.

So, she slowly and gently placed a hand on Pearl's shoulder. This action immediately snapped Pearl back into reality as the ivory Gem blinked a few times before slowly looking up at Garnet.

"Garnet," Pearl's voice was so quiet, like a twig being battered by a tornado as it desperately tried to survive the storm. The unmitigated waves of anguish that left her mouth were enough to make Garnet take a step back. The vast sorrow that one word emitted into the room made the air around them suffocating. Grief and regret quickly came to life once again within Garnet.

But she would be strong. She could still feel underneath all the horrible fear and sadness piercing her core the faint embers of Ruby and Sapphire's love.

And in these circumstances, love would be the beacon that would guide her past the darkness.

Garnet took a steadying breath before she spoke.

"Pearl," she began before pointing a finger at the white pearl on her forehead. "Your Gem."

Confusion rose in Pearl's expression before her eyes slowly moved up towards her Gem.

And she saw the beams of blue light shining from her white gemstone. Following the path the lights made, she looked down to the counter. Her eyes widened as she let out a gasp; tears formed at the edges of her eyes as she placed a hand over her mouth.

For on the counter, bathed in blue lights, was Peridot. A miniaturized version of their friend stood on top of the counter, her body barely as tall as a coffee mug. The image of their now dead friend blurred in and out of existence, static covering its form every few seconds before it regained its blue shape. The hologram of the green Gem held her tape recorder in one hand, her other arm hidden behind her back as her stance gave off a lecturing air. Garnet could almost hear Peridot going off on one of her theories, whether it be about her favorite TV show or something related to Homeworld, and could almost see the excitement that radiated off of each word she-.

Pearl smashed her fist onto the hologram, the construct of light fading into small wisps of blue as Pearl's entire body began to tremble.

"I'm…I'm sorry," her voice was swelling with unrelenting sorrow, her expression coursing with anguish. "I… I didn't mean-." She couldn't finish as she brought both hands over her eyes as fresh tears leaked down her face. The ivory Gem was crying uncontrollably, horrible sobs of grief escaping her lips as her body began to tremble even harder than before.

Garnet responded by wrapping her arms around her friend and bringing her into a tight hug. Pearl began to cry into her neck, head resting on her shoulders as her arms desperately clung to Garnet.

It had been a long time since any of the Gems had lost one of their own. In the war, they constantly lost people they deeply cared for; to her, it seemed like they were losing at least one friend every day. But back then, they had little to no time to grieve; for they weren't afforded the luxury of slowly accepting the fact that their friends were dead. Instead, they had to fight on in the endless battles of the Gem War, curtly acknowledging that someone had died before quickly moving on to the next fight. All while pushing aside the feelings of sorrow and misery for their lost friends or else those feelings would get them killed.

But when Homeworld had turned every Gem on earth, with the exception of the original Crystal Gems, to mindless and malicious beasts, they all cried bottomless tears that day.

After that, they had made a new home on earth and protected its inhabitants from the Gems that caused destruction to their planet. They had even made friends with a human, Greg, and it seemed like Garnet and the rest of the Gems were finally able to achieve some form of peace.

But then Rose announced she was planning on having a child… And nine months later gave her life to give birth to Steven.

Back then, after it finally settled in that their leader, the beautiful warrior who had led them through countless battles, was gone, they all grieved in private. At that time, when Garnet had only recently become the leader, she thought it would be best for her teammates to grieve alone. She thought that everyone would be able to move past their misery by themselves.

She would not make that same mistake again. Because of her lack of effort to help her team, they still had emotional issues to this day that might never be solved. People needed to talk about their grief with others, at times it might be best to leave them alone, but only for so long was that acceptable. They needed the help of others to get through such awful times.

They needed the people they loved to help them push past the darkness.

As Pearl continued to cry, Garnet held onto her dear friend, gently rubbing her hand on the ivory Gem's small back.

"It's alright Pearl, let it out." Garnet whispered into her ear, her words carrying a soft and warm benevolence that she hoped eased some of Pearl's misery. Her voice held a calming and tender kindness, almost mother-like, as she slowly moved one of her arms under Pearl's chin before lifting her head up. Her visor faded away as she stared into Pearl's sky blue eyes of crushing sadness.

"It's okay to cry. It's okay to feel horrible about this. What is not okay…" Her eyes were understanding, expression swelling with immense sympathy. "Is to keep any of these feelings inside you. When Rose died," Pearl immediately flinched, wanting to look away from Garnet but still choosing to look into her multi-colored pupils. "You locked yourself away from us, choosing to deal with your feelings from the inside, never asking anyone for help or saying how you were really feeling. I realize now that letting you grieve alone for so long was a horrible mistake, but I was too busy trying to deal with my own grief to see that."

Crackling embers of hope and compassion burned in Garnet's features her grip tightened ever so slightly on Pearl's shoulders. "Pearl, you can't keep trying to deal with these sorts of matters on your own. You'll just end up diving deeper and deeper into shadows of grief. Your friends, your  _family_  are here to help you. I know talking about what just happened is the absolute last thing you want to do, you want to try and ignore your feelings because their hideous, but you can't. You're not alone Pearl…"

She gave the ivory Gem a small smile, but the amount of benevolence and care in her lips was enough to light up the sullen atmosphere clinging to them. Just slightly, but enough that it made a difference.

"We'll always be here for you, no matter what. We feel your pain because it is our pain. We all lost someone dear to us, and all of us can help each other get through this. You don't have to talk now, but know that even though we've lost so much, we still have each other. Today we lost Peridot, but we still have our family. It's hurt, it's mourning, it's crying, but our family is still here for us."

Pearl stood perfectly still, listening to every word Garnet said with tears still falling down her face. Slowly, she brought her hands up and started to wipe away at the tears on her face. Regret and guilt were still present on her face, but her expression seemed just a tad less sullen than before.

"How… How are you handling this so well?" She asked, her voice was quieter than any whisper, but Garnet still heard it perfectly. Tears began to brim in the corner of her eyes as her lips morphed into a frown.

"I'm not. It's taking me everything I have to stay strong enough to help you; it's taking everything to stay fused. But even amidst all this pain, I can still feel the love that has always kept me from falling apart. It's astonishing really, the power of love. Sometimes I forget just how strong it is in the face of adversary."

A moment of silence washed over the Gems, neither Pearl nor Garnet said anything for a long time. Pearl's eyes were looking down at the floor as Garnet visor materialized back onto her face. She knew that her words had brought up even more unpleasant memories, especially when she mentioned Rose, but she had to do this.

This time, she refused to do nothing as her family suffered from grief that tore away at their very gemstones.

Pearl let out a long breath before she raised her head and looked up at Garnet; her eyes were still wet from all the tears she had just shed.

"…Thank you, Garnet," She eventually spoke, her words still heavy with sadness, but Garnet still heard the gratitude hiding underneath her voice. "I… I just…" Pearl didn't finish, hands rubbing her shoulder as she struggled to get her words out. Garnet could tell by the hesitation spreading throughout her features that she didn't know what to say, even though she wanted to say  _something_.

The leader of the Crystal Gems once again placed a hand on Pearl's shoulder.

"As I said, you don't have to talk now. Just know that you have that option." Garnet said, and Pearl looked less hesitant as she gave Garnet a small smile. But within a few seconds, her smile vanished as regret whirled in her expression. She saw the grief coiling around Pearl's face as her friend looked at the ground with a deep frown.

"Steven… Is taking this even worse than we are, isn't he?" By her tone, Garnet could tell the ivory Gem had come up with her own answer, thinking of every possible way Steven was suffering due to losing someone he loved. Imagining him crying until he had no more tears to shed; thinking about how the grief would leak from his heart and twist his innards with cold maliciousness. Visualizing how the boy who always stayed cheerful no matter what tried to comprehend something like death.

The face Steven had when Greg carried him and Connie outside flashed into her mind, and Garnet found herself unable to look away from the horrible nothingness radiating from his eyes.

"Yes." Garnet answered, not a hint of doubt in her voice.

Steven was strong, stronger than any child his age had any right to be. He had fought alongside them against impossible odds, had never given up when things seemed their darkest. His mother's will to always protect the innocent was embedded into every fiber of Steven's being. He would always be brave and fight whatever evil was trying to hurt his family or is home or even his entire world.

But he was still only a child.

He was a boy who liked to make friends with everyone he could. A boy who liked to watch cartoons and play video games with a jubilant glow in his features. He was a child who always approached life with a smile, someone who could uplift anyone's spirit. He was a kind-hearted boy who acknowledges the dark side of the world, but who always tried to look on the bright side.

But he was still a child who had so much to learn, especially about how cruel life can truly be.

How does someone such as Steven deal with losing someone they love? How does a child who cared so deeply about everything around him deal with death, a force of nature that did not hold any love or hatred for anything and simply takes whoever it pleased? How would Steven Quartz Universe deal with one of his family dying and him being unable to do anything to bring her back?

Steven had lost his mother, but it was before he was even born yet, so he never got a chance to form a physical bond with Rose Quartz. He loved her, of that Garnet and everyone was sure, but since he had never gotten to know his mother, he did not feel the same levels of pain and regret the others did when they told him Rose had given up her life to create him. Since he had never met his mother, he did not have nearly as strong of a connection to her as the other Crystal Gems did.

But Peridot was different.

Peridot Steven had gotten to know. He had learned with the rest of the Gems her flaws, her dreams, her true self-hiding underneath the front of arrogance she wore like her old limb enhancers. He had grown to love the green Gem like any one of his family members because; in his eyes, she had always been one even if they had barely know each other for a year. His connection to the genius was strong, the son of Rose Quartz always smiling whenever he went out into the barnyard to visit her.

Which was why this death would be all the more painful.

This would mark the first time Steven had ever lost someone he knew, someone who he spent time with and who was quickly becoming a big part of his world. The small child had never known what it was like to see someone leave this world and head on to whatever awaited them in the next. He had never actually known how close each one of them was to death every time they went out to fight either Corrupted Gems or forces from Homeworld. This would forever be the reminder that anyone, whether they be Gem or human, could die at any moment and at any time.

This would be the reminder that any of his family can, and one day would, be taken from him forever.

And now, the child who never stopped smiling was dealing with immense anguish that was no one his age should go through. And the sorrow biting at Steven's very essence was made so much worse because he blamed himself for Peridot's death. As Steven continued to think about how he should have done something to save his friend, it would only make his pain that much more suffocating and fierce.

So how on earth was a little boy who had just experienced death in its most vicious form deal with the agony of never being able to see or talk to someone he loved ever again?

This was a question Garnet had been thinking about while she cried throughout the night, and she hated every answer she came up with. And Pearl most likely had similar thoughts to her own, imagining how their Steven would never smile again, and be a lifeless husk of the boy he had once been.

"It's not fair," Pearl's voice broke Garnet out of her thoughts, the fusion noticing Pearl's hands were balled into fists. "I've never seen him look so…empty before. He shouldn't have had to see someone die. He shouldn't have to deal with something like...this."

"No, he shouldn't." Garnet said as she let out a sigh full of regret. "But we all knew there would be a day when Steven would have to deal with the death of someone he cared about."

"That doesn't mean he should have had to watch someone be murdered right in front of his eyes!" For the first-time Pearl raised her voice, she wasn't shouting but there was anger in each word she spoke. "I know that at some point, Steven was going to have someone he loved die, but I…" She trailed off, eyes narrowing as she glanced at the floor. Her expression hardened fury filled her features. "I hoped it would be because of old age. I always hoped that when one of his friends died, it would be because he outlived them. We both know even though Steven's only half Gem, he'll live much longer than the average human lifespan."

Garnet said nothing, choosing instead to listen to Pearl as the rage in her voice continued to grow.

"I always hoped when he did encounter death, he'd get to say goodbye. I hoped it would be peaceful when Steven had to let go of someone he loved. But instead, he had to witness his own family be murdered by some mindless animal! The exact opposite of peaceful!"

Pearl was shaking, but this time not because sadness was clutching her very core, but instead because of a blazing wrath burning from within her features. There was an aggressive fire rising within her eyes as she glared at the floor.

"But now…now, Steven's been traumatized, and there's absolutely nothing we can do to fix it!"

She thrust both of her arms to the side as she looked up at Garnet, accidentally hitting the coffee mug on the table and knocking it off the ledge. It would have hit the floor and cracked into hundreds of pieces were it not for Garnet reacting with astonishing speed. She quickly moved past Pearl, careful not to hit her, extended her right arm and grabbed the mug by its sides right before it made contact with the ground.

Future vision truly came in handy in these situations.

"This is my favorite mug." Was the only thing Garnet said as she looked at Pearl, who couldn't look at her face and instead looked towards the ground. Garnet placed the mug back on the counter. "Please be careful with it."

Pearl said nothing as silence hung in the air between the two Gems. Eventually though, Pearl spoke again as she lifted her head up to Garnet.

"I'm sorry." She said, all previous anger gone from both her words and expression. Sorrow slowly twisted back into her features. "I didn't-."

"It's fine." Garnet interrupted, raising a hand in a placating gesture. "You're right, Steven…has been deeply scarred by this event. There are no questions about that."

Behind her visor, her eyes glanced at the floor as sorrow washed over her features. "We can't do anything to change the fact that Peridot died. Steven's going to feel like his heart's been sliced into millions of pieces."

She looked at the ceiling, and with her future vision the only thing she could see were timelines of Steven being depressed and looking like his soul had been removed from his body.

But she pushed those thoughts away, letting out a breath she didn't know she was holding as she clenched her right fist.

"But just because we can't fix it so Peridot never died, that doesn't mean we can't help Steven. He'll need us now more than ever, and when he's ready to discuss the pain he's going through, we will help ease his grief."

Garnet looked at Pearl, who had tears brimming in the corners of her eyes again, as her lips moved into a thin and stoic line.

"We have to be strong and support each other," Garnet carefully raised her arm and wiped away the tears building in Pearl's eyes before resting her hand on her cheek. "We have to be open with one another Pearl, or else none of us will ever get through this."

Another wave of silence washed over the two as Pearl took a step away from Garnet before turning around and looking towards the windows. Garnet heard her let out a sigh before she turned her head back to face her.

"I don't think everyone will want to discuss how their feeling."

"I know." Garnet quickly replied, the lines on her face scrunching together into a hardened expression. "But eventually, they will have to speak their feelings; otherwise they'll just sink deeper and deeper into darkness. And I will not allow that." Those last words were spoken with a firm and conclusive tone that left no room for arguments. Her voice carried a stern, yet at the same time compassionate, touch as Garnet's expression became a little softer.

"But right now, I understand that no one will want to talk, but that's okay. The pain is still far too fresh and cutting that even thinking about it causes it to grow. Especially for Steven and-."

She didn't finish as she realized there was a Gem she hadn't fully considered as to how she was taking the awful demise of Peridot. She was consumed with thoughts about a heartbroken Steven and helping Pearl that she hadn't really taken the time to think about how one specific Gem was taking this.

Lapis.

She knew that the blue Gem harbored little kindness towards the other Crystal Gems, she did not miss the sidelong glares Lapis would sometimes send her way. While she did not want to kill them anymore, it was clear that the water manipulating Gem was far from trusting to any of the other Crystal Gems. She seemed to be slowly warming up to Amethyst, but for Pearl and herself, at best she tolerated their presence.

But Peridot was the exception.

Peridot had somehow managed to become friends with Lapis in less than a day. Somehow, even though she was responsible for imprisoning her back on Jasper's ship, the green genius was able to get Lapis to see past her previous crimes and accept her. Steven helped, of course, but it was Peridot and her persistence that eventually managed to get Lapis to partially open up to her.

And now, one of the few people she allowed to see past her cold demeanor and showed them her fragile self was dead. And she had seen said person die while she was only a few feet away.

Something told Garnet that they needed to go check on Lapis immediately.

And it was then Garnet began to wonder exactly where Amethyst was. She was surprised that she had not seen the purple Gem sitting in the room. She had expected Amethyst to be in the same state Pearl had been in, miserable and barely holding in tears begging to be released. She wasn't in the temple, Garnet would have past her if she was, and the leader of the Crystal Gems highly doubted Amethyst would have the strength to go out and into the town.

So that left one option.

"Amethyst is at the barn." Garnet's words were a statement, her eyes looking directly at Pearl's face behind her visor. She saw the ivory Gem's eyes widen slightly as she looked around, realization flaring in her expression. It was obvious she had also momentarily forgotten about their other teammate's whereabouts.

"Oh, right, she said she was going to the barn," Pearl said, placing a hand under her chin. "I could barely hear her though; in fact, I'm positive Amethyst has never been so quiet in her entire life." Worry quickly lodged itself into her expression, pushing aside the sadness flooding her face. "She left on the Warp Pad almost an hour ago, she should have been back by now. Garnet, Amethyst might not be in the best state of mind right now. And Lapis is probably taking this as bad as Steven; you saw her last night. I can't believe I forgot about how their taking this and just let her go to the barn when the thing that killed Peridot is still out there! I shouldn't have let her go or at least attempted to talk with-!"

"Pearl," Garnet interrupted, stopping her friend before she could go into a panic-induced rant. It was a bit disorienting seeing the ivory Gem go from sad to angry and then worrying in a matter of minutes, but everyone's emotions were in a state of pure havoc right now, including her own. A part of her was amazed Pearl could feel anything other than misery when she herself was having trouble not focusing on all the remorse swirling within her. If Garnet did not spend hundreds of years controlling her emotions, she probably still be a sobbing mess sitting in the Burning Room as regret cut away at her core. "It's fine. Amethyst will be fine, she might be grieving and in agony, but we of all people know how strong she can be. She'll be back soon, and there are some things about the Gem were battling with that I need to talk with all of you about."

And it was at that moment that the Warp Pad began to emit its signature blue glow. A ray of light stretched and hit the ceiling before it faded as quickly as it came and Amethyst walked off the platform.

She looked just as bad as Pearl did. Her hair was pushed behind her ears which exposed two eyes full of despair. Anguish contorted her features, her very walk highlighting just how much pain was rushing throughout her body. Her head was lowered to the floor as very presence cast off sorrow with each step she took; the atmosphere of the room became even more choking than before as Garnet felt sorrow once again rise and twist inside her chest.

Gone was the nonchalant and lazy attitude that seemed to be entwined to Amethyst's very core, and in its place was frigid grief.

"Hey," Amethyst voice was so quiet; no, that wasn't right, it was broken. Everything about her stance and stride shouted that the purple Gem was hurt beyond words. Amethyst was so close to the deceased genius, it was like Peridot had been her friend for ages. She was the second Gem after Steven who was willing to look past Peridot's sins and at least attempt to accept her as one of their own. She never stopped telling jokes to the genius, even when Peridot kept begging her to stop the string of bad puns; and it was probably due to Amethyst's energetic and cheerful personality that Peridot was so quick to form a bond with her.

And now that bond was the reason why Amethyst had bits of tears building in the corner of her eyes.

"Hello, Amethyst," Pearl said quietly, taking a step out of the way as the purple Gem walked in-between her and Garnet. Amethyst did not even bother to look up to acknowledge either Gems and instead headed for the couch. Pearl glanced at Garnet, expression hesitant as her eyes asked Garnet an unspoken question. Knowing what she wanted, Garnet gave her an encouraging nod before Pearl looked towards the sullen Amethyst still walking away from them.

"How was Lapis?" Pearl asked, and Amethyst stopped walking mid-step, still not turning around to face either Gems.

Garnet knew that wasn't a good sign.

"Was... Was she at the barn?" Garnet could tell that Pearl knew that Amethyst had in fact seen Lapis, and was only asking because she could think of nothing else to say. After all, why else would Amethyst be-.

"What barn?" Amethyst said, turning her head slightly to look over her shoulder. Her voice was bitter. Irritation began to spread throughout Amethyst's expression.

Garnet was not expecting those words as an answer, but whatever Amethyst meant she could not tell. Her expression remained neutral as she looked at the short Gem a short distance away. She couldn't ask her, since she never asked questions out loud, but thankfully Pearl was equally confused as her, which was why she was the first to speak again.

"What do you mean?" She said, raising a delicate brow.

"I mean, there is no barn. Not anymore."

That curt and sharp reply made the confusion in her mind flare up, but it quickly vanished as Garnet instantly realized what Amethyst meant.

"She destroyed it," Garnet said, and the moment the words left her mouth, Pearl's head whipped towards her.

"What?" She said, eyes widening slightly before quickly turning towards Amethyst. "Did she really-?"

"Yep." She interrupted, finally turning around fully to face the Gems as she crossed her arms. "I wouldn't even call what she left of a pile of splinters. She really went wild on that place." She let out a sigh as she looked towards the floor.

Garnet knew that when Lapis was angry, truly furious from the bottom of her core, anything and everything around her could become a potential target for her wrath. The blue Gem's cold rage was a frightening thing, having been on the receiving end of it when she first broke out of the mirror, Garnet knew how violent Lapis could be when she was mad.

She knew that Peridot's death would hurt her, she knew it would be one of the worst pains Lapis had ever gone through. But still, Garnet never would have thought that Lapis would destroy her and Peridot's home.

She supposed that the blue Gem could not take the constant reminder that Peridot would never again step foot in the barn. She couldn't handle the fact that all of Peridot's gadgets or belongings still existed while she did not. Lapis couldn't continue to live in the barn, for every time she would look at it, she would be reminded of the agony that Peridot would never again see the home they had built together.

So, the only solution she could come up with was to destroy the barn in an attempt to bury the pain underneath the rubble.

Garnet knew that wouldn't work, and Lapis knew that fact as well.

"By the time I got to the barn, she had already busted it up," Amethyst said, her voice meek as she kicked at nothing but air. "I tried to see if I could find her, but I came up with nothing."

A long silence hung in the air between the three Gems, the cold atmosphere from before returning with a vengeance. Garnet swore the misery in the room was almost tangible.

"Amethyst…" Pearl spoke again, looking at Amethyst with a sympatric expression. "If you need to ta-." Pearl didn't finish as Amethyst quickly interrupted.

"Don't." The purple Gem glared at Pearl, eyes looking more like arrows now. While she did not raise her voice, the one word she spoke held immense fury. Pearl took a step back, not expecting such anger to come from Amethyst while Garnet's stoic expression remained firmly etched on her face.

"Just don't Pearl. No pretty little speech is going to make me feel better. I don't want to talk about my "feelings" or how "everything will be okay," because it won't be." Amethyst words were like finely sharpen blades that only seemed to grow more hateful with each syllable. "Peri's…dead, and nothing will bring her back." She looked at the ground, her hands clenched into fists as Garnet could see the purple Gem grinding her teeth. "And right now…" Amethyst looked back at the two Gems, her eyes burning with malice; For a moment, Garnet thought she was staring at an entirely different person, she had never seen such a look on Amethyst's face.

"Right now, the only thing I want to talk about is how I'm gonna crush the no good lousy monster that killed my friend."

The fire in her voice kept growing, just like the rage in her eyes. Pearl looked away from Amethyst, her expression slightly hurt as she opened her mouth as if to say something, but then she quickly closed it The ivory Gem did not know how to respond, her eyes glancing towards Garnet with a pleading gleam.

Garnet was looking at the angry Gem only a few feet away from her with the same emotionless face she wore like her signature gauntlets. Honestly, she expected this reaction from short purple Gem. Amethyst had always been one to focus her inner turmoil into anger, channeling her agony into pure rage in an attempt to ease herself from all the pain she was going through. It was just like with Jasper, only this time her fury was even larger since the pain she was experiencing was so piercing. The hatred Garnet saw in Amethyst's expression was so potent because, on the inside, her friend was suffering through absolute torture.

Garnet adjusted her visor before she spoke.

"That's fine." Pearl looked at her with wide eyes as the wrath Amethyst leaked from her core died down, her expression now surprised. There was confusion slowly growing within the purple Gem's eyes as she stared at Garnet. "If you don't want to talk, then you don't have to talk now. No one here will force you to do otherwise." Amethyst now looked shocked at what Garnet was saying. "Just know Amethyst, that if you ever do feel like talking, we will always be here to lend you an ear."

When she finished, small embers of fury returned to Amethyst's expression.

"I doubt I will." She muttered, her voice still as sharp and bitter as before as she looked away from the two Gems in front of her to the side.

"And there's something I need to tell the both of you about the Gem that we've been hunting." That instantly drew the attention of both Gems, Pearl's eyes widening slightly as she remembered what they were about to talk about before Amethyst arrived. The purple Gem meanwhile had a curious gleam in her expression, but just as Garnet was about to speak, they heard the door that led outside opening.

Every Gem looked towards the entrance and saw Greg Universe standing next to the screen door before he closed it. He had a thick, green turtleneck sweater and dark blue jeans, beads of sweat traveling down his face as he looked towards the three Gems.

"…Hey," Greg said after a moment, awkwardly rubbing the back of his head. Garnet looked at two Gems surrounding her and saw that they were surprised Greg was here. They had all figured he would spend the following days with his grief-ridden son, but since Steven was nowhere in sight, Garnet wondered what exactly Greg was doing away from him.

"Hello Greg," Garnet said as Pearl walked towards the human father of Steven.

"How's Steven?" She asked, the worry in her voice incredibly heavy. Greg looked confused, raising a brow as he looked at each and every Gem gathered in the room.

"Wait, you haven't seen him?" Greg asked.

"No, he's been with you all day…hasn't he?" Amethyst asked, looking up at the taller human as she raised a brow. Greg's expression became frantic.

"No, I mean, he was with me last night but when I woke up, he was gone!" Greg explained, and that one sentence made every Gems' eyes widened.

"What?!" Pearl shouted.

"He's missing?!" Amethyst also shouted, but this time instead of anger, fear gripped her voice.

"I thought he went to talk with you guys!?" Greg's eyes were wide and full of horrible dread as his head swiveled towards every Gem. "If he's not here, then where is he?!"

"We have to find him!" Pearl said, as she ran to the door. "If he's in the town then we have to get to him immediately, especially with the Rouge Gem-." Before she could finish, Garnet interrupted her.

"Stop." That one word was spoke with such harsh finality, Pearl immediately stopped moving just as her hands went to the door. The commanding tone her voice carried made it clear that this was an order no one would disobey.

Seeing that her family was now looking at her with perplexed expressions, Garnet continued.

"It's clear that Steven doesn't want to be with any of us right now. Greg, he left you because he wants to be alone right now. He wants to deal with this on his own."

"But he's-." Pearl began, but was once again interrupted.

"I know that Steven shouldn't be alone, especially now after all that's happened. But if we try to find him, he'll only push us away. Steven has decided to attempt to sort out his feelings on his own, and sometimes people need to be alone from everyone they love to do so." Garnet looked at all three people gathered in the room before letting out a heavy sigh. "But rest assured, the moment any of us see Steven in need of our help, when it seems like he's getting worse and worse as the days go by, we will help. But until then, it would be best to leave him to his own wishes." Her voice lost the authoritative power it once held as it became softer, her words carrying deep sympathy. The logical side of her brain knew that Steven would not talk to any of the Crystal Gems or even his own father. She had expected this reaction, seeing death for the first time would be enough to shock any person to their core, essentially shutting down their capability of feeling anything other than grief. To Garnet it was clear that Steven thought isolation from everyone would be the best course of action, partially because he did not want to talk to anyone about the misery he was experiencing. To the child, that would only make it worse.

And another reason why she didn't go seek out Steven was that he might blame the other Gems for not stopping the beast that killed Peridot. The son of Rose Quartz was always so forgiving to everyone and everything; Peridot and Lapis had tried to kill him and his family in the past, but now, they were his best friends. But the difference here was that where the blue and green Gems had  _tried_ to kill the people he loved, but they had failed.

And now that the Gem responsible wasn't here to let out all his inner distress and agony, Steven would direct his pain towards himself…and then to them. And that thought made the misery wrapping itself around her core all the more painful.

So, for now, they would wait for Steven to come them. Not the other way around.

"You know, I think you might be right," Greg said, expression reluctant as his eyes looked to the floor. "Steven… Steven barely said anything to me last night. He just cried and cried and looked at the roof of my van. I practically stayed up all night with him, but he acted like I wasn't there." Greg's voice cracked as he spoke, guilt drenching his expression as tears built up in his eyes. "I've never seen him look so tired…I've never seen my own son look so dead."

Greg quickly brought his sleeve up to his face as he wiped away the tears threatening to spill. His expression held nothing but sorrow, eyes full of glacial regret as he looked down to the floor before letting out a shuddering breath. "I...I don't think Steven's ready to talk to anyone yet. And I ddon't think he will be for a long time." It hurt Greg that his son wouldn't speak to him and instead choose to keep his emotions to himself. It was agonizing to know that someone he loved was suffering and he was forced to do nothing about it.

It was a sentiment Garnet and the others also shared.

"… Steven knows we'll always be here for him." Garnet said after a short silence, adjusting her visor even though it didn't need to be adjusted. "When he feels ready to talk, he will." Before another cold, sorrowful atmosphere could permeate the room, Pearl turned her head to Greg.

"How's Connie?" Pearl asked, face just as worried as it had been only a few moments before. The ivory Gem cared for her precious student just as much as she did for Steven.

That question made Greg uncomfortable, his eyes glancing back and forth from the floor to Pearl before he let out a long sigh.

"She was… not as bad as Steven, but still pretty bad." He said, his expression becoming sullen as his voice dripped with remorse. "Needless to say, her parents weren't happy that I had their crying daughter in my arms. I told them… that she had seen one of my family members die in a big explosion. And that made them a lot less angry, but it also made them very worried about Steven. I answered all the questions I could, heck; they didn't even know there was an explosion at Funland until I told them."

Heavy sorrow radiated from Greg's expression; his words carried only grief as he continued.

"By the end, I said goodbye to Connie and her folks gave me their condolences, saying if we needed anything they would help, and headed to my van… Steven said he saw Connie crying through the windows of her house."

No one said anything after that. For Garnet, the regret whirling within her now clouded her every thought. It took everything she had to not defuse back into Ruby and Sapphire.

Which was why she was glad Greg spoke again, it helped take her mind off her guilt. If only for a moment.

"So what are you guys gonna do now?" He asked, and none of the Gems immediately replied. What was her team going to do? It was a simple enough question, but right now Garnet could not answer it.

"Ain't it obvious?" Amethyst asked, her voice blazing with barely restrained anger as she gestured to the door. "We go to town, step up our search, and find the Gem that did this to Peri and-."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?"

No one had expected Greg to interrupt Amethyst. Pearl looked confused as she stared at the human. Amethyst had tinges of shock on her face, but it quickly gave way to the beginnings of rage.

Garnet meanwhile looked at Greg with a raised eyebrow behind her visor.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Amethyst voice held a dangerous edge as she glared slightly at the taller human.

"I mean, are you sure you guys can…handle this?" He said after a moment's hesitation.

"What!?" Amethyst, and surprisingly Pearl, shouted. Their expressions held a mixture of shock and venomous anger.

"Look, I know you guys are the protectors of Beach City and have been saving the earth for a thousand years but…" Despite the rage emitting from both Pearl and Amethyst, Greg looked them both in the eye before he spoke again. "One of you guys…just died." Those words were enough to quell both Gems anger as sadness pooled in both Pearl and Amethyst expressions. "And I've seen what you've fought against first hand. A woman that could control the ocean, a giant centipede, soldiers from your home planet. You guys have always been able to win against things that would make other people have nightmares for weeks."

Greg's eyes gleamed with an unsettling fright.

"So what the heck kind of monster could actually kill you? After facing all of that, what kind of insanely strong creature are you guys up against right now?" He asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

That was a question Amethyst and Pearl had not considered. To Garnet, it was clear that the two Gems never went over what kind of Gem would be able to kill their dearly loved friend. They had been consumed by their anguish to really focus on one detail.

What exactly were they fighting?

And that was a question that the two Gems could not answer, for they had no idea. Even Garnet only had vague ideas revolving around the mysterious Gem that she had yet to share too the others, but she was just as uncertain as the others were about what exactly they were battling.

"Greg, I understand your concerns, but what do you suggest we do?" Pearl said, her eyes narrowing at the human as her voice held tinges of anger. "We can't leave whatever just killed Peridot in Beach City. We have to defeat it and bubble it, which is what we've been doing for hundreds of years." The last words the ivory Gem spoke were laced with scorn, but Greg was not even the slightest bit perturbed as he continued to gaze right into Pearl's eyes.

"I understand that but-."

"If you think we should just sit on our butts and do nothing about the Corrupted Gem, then that's got to be the stupidest suggestion I've ever heard." Amethyst interrupted as she took a step closer to Greg. Her expression became furious as she glared at the human. Each word she spoke burned hatred, Garnet would never have thought that Amethyst could get this mad at Greg, someone she loved so much. "There is no way we're gonna let that Corrupted Gem escape, not after what's its done to us. So, I suggest you just-."

"It's not a Corrupted Gem." Garnet interrupted, wanting to stop Amethyst before she said something she'd regret. Her calm words instantly drew the attention of everyone, Amethyst no longer glaring at Greg as her expression rose with confusion.

"What?" The purple Gem asked as Garnet looked towards Greg.

"Greg, you said Peridot…exploded." Just saying that word filed Garnet's mind with images of the green genius being swallowed by bright red flames. She could see Peridot's face twisted in unimaginable agony, hear her screams before the last bits of her life faded away.

But she could not dwell on those thoughts; otherwise, the sorrow swelling within her would cause the leader of the Crystal Gems to defuse. So, she pushed asides those thoughts, with an extreme amount of difficulty, before continuing.

"Steven never told us how Peridot died. There are certain things that I need you to explain."

Greg looked a tad hesitant as he most likely went over whatever gruesome details his son had told him regarding Peridot, but after rubbing the back of his head he spoke.

"He said that Peridot…was really injured. He said that she had cracks all over her body, and even on her gem." Garnet considered each new detail carefully in her mind, using the logical and stoic part of her in order to ignore the terrible grief rushing through her body. "He said that just before he got a chance to heal her, she just blew up. He didn't see the Gem anywhere nearby, but he was sure it had to be hiding somewhere."

Garnet took in this new information with a simple nod of her head as she placed her fingers underneath her chin. "Well, that confirms that."

"Garnet, what are you talking about?" Pearl said, confusion spreading throughout her expression before Garnet spoke.

"I'm saying that what we've been hunting is far more dangerous than we first thought." She paused, eyes glancing at each person in the room to make sure she had their full attention before she continued. "No Corrupted Gem we've ever face has been this stealthy. We all thought that maybe the Corrupted Gem had retained a semblance of the Gem it once was, but even if it had some form of intelligence, it wouldn't be able to avoid us for so long. That means that this thing's something else entirely."

Behind her visor, her eyes narrowed.

"I believe that we're facing something from Homeworld."

The moment the words left her lips, fear twisted and consumed every inch of her friends' expressions. The atmosphere reminded Garnet of one of the Crystal Gems darkest moments, them standing against Jasper's ship in a useless last stand. They all knew that the chances of them winning were beyond slim, but despite the crippling terror they all felt, they still stood their ground.

The shadows of cold dread and intense horror now dancing in the room were exactly like that terrible moment.

"Homeworld?" Amethyst said, eyes wide and full of shock as her mouth hung open.

"That can't be." Pearl said, as she shook her head. She wasn't in denial; instead, the ivory Gem's eyes gained an analytical edge to them as she placed a hand underneath her chin. "We would have seen them coming light years away. The Galaxy Warp Pad is still broken, so there's no way they could get to earth without using their ships. And if they did, they wouldn't bother trying to be stealthy; they'd just try to annihilate us right from the start."

Garnet was aware of these facts, and hearing them out loud only seemed to further highlight how unlikely her theory was. But it was the only explanation that made sense.

"I know it seems impossible, but think about it. The missing people, the fact we haven't found a single clue as to what the Gem even looks like, and that it has been able to take people from their very homes without anyone noticing is highly suspicious." The events happening within Beach City were strange, even for her, and had to be a part of something bigger. They had to be caused by something truly cruel. "I have no idea how, but I think somehow Homeworld sent someone to do something to the people of Beach City. And Peridot found the Gem responsible, and then they killed her before she could tell us what was going on. For some reason, they're taking the women of Beach City because they have a part to play in this plan."

"Garnet, I can't see any possible reason why Homeworld would want a bunch of humans. I mean, when have they ever done something-."

"The Zoo." Garnet sternly reminded Pearl about that wretched place, who immediately stiffened as she stopped talking, looking to the side and away from the Fusion. "It might be for an entirely different purpose, but I'm positive Homeworld is responsible for this. Steven said he saw Peridot's body had cracks in it just before she died in an explosion. Homeworld Gems are the only things I can think of that can do that much physical damage to a gemstone. And the fact that they were able to kill Peridot while hiding from sight means we're dealing with something with incredible cunning and strength. And no Corrupted Gem could ever match that description. It's the only thing that could explain everything that's been happening to our home."

When she was finished, everyone gathered looked lost in their thoughts, taking in the information slowly as the gears in their mind shifted into place.

"So…chances are high that Homeworld has sent some kind of big bad Gem to Beach City to complete a mission. But what could they be up to?" Greg said, voice thick with confusion as he looked towards the other two Gems in the room for help. Unfortunately, Garnet could tell that they were equally as lost as him.

"If they are responsible for all of this, then I really don't have a single idea as to why." Pearl said before looking towards Garnet. "What do you think we should do?"

"For now, we can do nothing but wait. I doubt the Gem will strike after drawing so much attention to itself. We'll triple our efforts to protect Beach City, and make sure no one else will die."

Garnet's voice held such burning conviction, behind her visor tears began to well up in her eyes as she was once again consumed by images of Peridot's broken gem pieces in Steven's cold hands. Around her, everyone once again grew remorseful, their eyes swirling with sorrow as they to remembered their dead friend.

Behind her visors all Garnet could see a dark monster, face obscured by shadows as it stared at them with vindictive glee. It was the same monster that had killed her friend. The same monster that was responsible for all of this agony.

The same monster responsible for traumatizing her Steven.

And then Garnet felt something rise inside her.

"And besides, they've already made a mistake. And it will cost them dearly."

Her voice was completely void of emotion; her eyes were narrowed as she walked towards the kitchen counter.

"What's that?" Greg asked.

Garnet was now standing next to the counter as she realized what exactly was rising inside her.

Anger.

It was rare that she ever felt this emotion. Truly felt it as it embedded itself firmly into her core. Swallowing every single thought she had as her hands clenched into fists.

It wasn't the same type of anger as Ruby's; her rage was like blazing columns of scorching red heat ripped straight from the sun's core. When compared to Ruby's, Garnet's anger wasn't even remotely similar to the Gem that made up her very being.

No, Garnet's fury was so much worse.

Whereas Ruby's hatred was searing and blazing, never-ending flames that would burn everything in its path to ash, Garnet's was cold. Like Sapphire's anger, except even colder. Garnet's rage was frigid, giving her vivid clarity of whatever enraged her as an eerie calmness would envelop her body. Her anger was like a blizzard, a storm of glacial coldness directed at the person who would never be able to escape her wrath.

For whoever succeeded in making her angry would soon find themselves on the receiving end of her fists that could, and had, crush literal gems.

She raised her right arm into the air and without a word slammed a fist into her favorite mug. Pieces of porcelain went flying in every direction as everyone else in the room let out a gasp before ducking away from the jagged chunks.

And then, she spoke. Her voice like a glacier, an arctic chill secreting from each word that left her lips. Every single word that left her mouth was made of nothing but sub-zero hatred.

"They. Pissed. Me. Off."

More gasps escaped her friends' lips, for it had been a long time since she had cursed. A part of her was relieved when the words left her mouth, human curse words always perfectly captured one's anger and just felt good to say.

But that part was crushed underneath the mountain of cold fury that turned her into a barely restrained berserker. And when she found whatever killed Peridot…she might have to take back the promise she made with Rose.

The promise to never again shatter another being.

* * *

It was cold out, so he had grabbed his spare pink coat and matching pink boats he kept in the van before leaving his still sleeping dad. But his clothing didn't help fend off the unrelenting chills at all, and his body grew colder with each and every second that past.

And the pain stabbing into Steven's very soul became more agonizing with each new building he saw.

He had no idea where he was going, but when he woke up the urge to leave his Dad's van overwhelmed him. Last night he had tried to get Steven to talk to him; to try and console him and remind him that he would always be there for him, but Steven could barely hear his Dad's words.

All he could hear were Peridot's screams. All he could see was how close he was to healing her before she had been murdered right in front of his eyes.

Several times throughout the night his mind was consumed by memories of his friend. Memories that had once made Steven laugh and smile now caused his heart to crumble into thousands of pieces. Each time Steven tried to push aside the flashes of Peridot, new images of his green friend would reappear as misery pierced his soul.

And then, he heard  _her_.

" _I warned you."_  Bismuth had said in almost singsong-esque voice. Steven could almost see the rainbow-haired Gem standing with him in his dad's van, a grin plastered on her face as she stared down at the son of Rose Quartz. She didn't even need to say anything else as her very presence was the reminder that Steven had failed. That it was his fault for not stopping the Corrupted Gem. That it was his fault he wasn't strong enough to save his own family.

The pain and despair consuming him were his punishment for being such a useless Gem.

And his dad wanted him to talk about how he was feeling? His dad wanted to hear about his self-loathing, how he had been hearing Bismuth voice in his head, how he thought he'd never live up to his mother and how the sorrow eating away at his heart was making him feel like he was dead on the inside?

No, he couldn't do that to his dad. He couldn't force his burden on to his own father or any of the Gems.

So Steven chose to grieve in silence, tears continuing to fall down his face as his dad gave him a hug that, for the first time in his life, he did not return.

He was not sure when exactly he fell asleep, but his dreams only made his agonizing guilt so much worse. He was once again in Funland, once again only a few feet away from saving Peridot. The only difference was that this time they were the only ones there, and the lights from the decorations were turned off, darkness covering the area but he could still see the green Gem. Her body just as wounded as before. Her expression just as scared and hopeless as when she was swallowed by the explosion that took her life. He ran towards his friend, hand dripping with his healing spit as he reached out to touch her. This time his hand was only inches away from healing all the pain she had been forced to suffer through, and for a moment he thought he might actually make it.

Until something stopped him dead in his tracks.

Just as his hand was about to touch Peridot, something slammed into his gut. It had the force of a train, even stronger than one of Jasper's punches, and easily sending Steven off his feet as he careened through the air. Steven let out a painful cry before he crashed back onto the wooden planks of the amusement park.

And as he crashed, he saw Peridot face once again contort with pure agony before she was swallowed in a massive fireball.

Steven quickly stood up and could only watch with eyes filled with horror as he watched Periodt's body parts fly into the air. Legs, arms, torso, visor, and even her  _head_ spiraled into the sky before crashing back down onto the ground.

Tears fell down his eyes; sorrow that crushed every part of his body swallowed him as he collapsed onto his knees. But before the glacial despair could fully submerge him, Peridot's body began to shake.

Steven looked through his tears and saw the pieces of Peridot trembling violently now, and before he even had a chance to wonder what was happening, they lifted themselves off the ground before floating to spot the green Gem had once stood. The pieces of his friend began to merge, limbs and appendages fitting together like a jigsaw puzzle, and before he knew it, he was staring at Peridot's fully assembled body. But instead of making him happy, the sight of his friend alive again only made the pit of anguish in his body grow even more. Cracks were once again on her body, eyes full of desperation as she looked up at Steven before shouting.

"STEVEN!"

Not even bothering to wipe away the tears, Steven ran towards his beloved friend, this time looking out for anything that dared to try and stop him from saving her. He licked his hands as his legs moved as quickly as they could, now only a few feet away from Peridot as he extended his arm as far as he could.

And just like before, something plowed into his gut with immense power as he let out another scream of pain.

And once again, Peridot exploded.

This time when he crashed, he went into a small tumble on the wooden planks before he got up as quickly as he could. He saw the pieces of Peridot's body crash onto the ground, saw them rapidly reform at the same spot as before as the green genius extended a hand towards Steven, eyes still leaking with unimaginable fear.

"STEVEN!"

He ran faster than he ever had before, tears still plummeting down his face as he made it to his friend within seconds.

But the invisible force would not let him save his friend. He once again found himself careening through the air before hitting the ground face first as the strength from the unseen ghost made Steven's body bounce painfully off the planks.

And bright orange flames once again consumed Peridot.

And her body was quickly reassembled before she once again screamed his name.

"STEVEN!"

This continued for a long time. Steven running to save his friend, the invisible and powerful something stopping him every time, an explosion killing his friend before her body parts once again reformed. This process happened over…

"STEVEN!"

And over…

"STEVEN!"

And over again.

"STEVEN!"

When Steven once again found himself crashing onto the wooden planks, dark purple bruises adorning every part of his body with his clothes ripped in so many places, he did not get up. He had lost track of how many times he failed to save Peridot now, face lying on the wooden planks as blood dripped down his forehead. He slammed his arm onto the ground with enough force to leave a sizable hole in the wood, uncontrollable tears now descending rapidly down his face.

Why couldn't he save her? Why was he so pathetic.

And then, Steven heard something walking towards him from behind.

Slowly, he lifted himself off the ground, and what he saw horrified him. It was more malicious than Jasper. More frightful than any Corrupted Gem he had ever faced and dripped with such horrible hatred that Steven could not even breathe.

He could barely remember a single detail of the dark and cruel creature, except for one thing.

Cold, emotionless pink eyes that guaranteed his suffering glared at him with menacing contempt.

He woke up with a scream, heart pounding in his chest, sweat dripping down his forehead as he looked towards the still sleeping form of his dad. He hadn't woken him up, and Steven suddenly was hit with an unrelenting need to run out of the van.

Which now led him to his current situation.

He wandered through a city that should have been full of people with smiles but was now as desolate as the desert Steven had found Lion in. The few people that he did encounter on the streets seemed to be in a rush to get off them, fear etched onto their faces as they dashed back to their homes. Steven had seen a rather large group of people gathering outside the mayor's office, shouting and questioning what was going on in their town.

It was clear that the people were terrified; who wouldn't be after seeing someone explode? And right now, they were looking towards their leader to try and answer their questions.

Steven didn't look at the group for too long as he continued to wander, the pain and misery twisting his heart growing with each step he took. A numbness was spreading throughout his body as the pain grew, his expression becoming hollow as his frown deepened. His eyes were red and puffy, his tears staining his jacket as he continued to walk aimlessly.

All while his mind's version of Bismuth chuckled as he sobbed harder by the second.  

Steven did not know what do now; he had never felt so lost or hurt in his entire life. He had known that there was always a chance someone he loved could die, he seemed to have to fight against new enemies and monsters on a weekly basis, but he was always sure he could protect them. He thought that with all his abilities, with all his improvements the Gems said he made, he could always help and save the ones he loved no matter what.

Clearly, he could not have been more wrong.

He had briefly wondered how the others were taking Peridot's death, the tears descending down everyone's face was still fresh in his mind, and for a moment he considered going to the temple to check on the Gems. He ultimately decided against it, since they would see his exhausted face and immediately be worried about him, which was the last thing they needed when they were already dealing with something so horrible.

That, and he knew that they would try to get him to talk about his thoughts and feelings, which was the absolute last thing he wanted to do right now.

He crossed one of Beach city's main streets to get to the opposite curb, wondering what exactly was the point of coming here. All he had felt since he left his dad's van was despair and sadness, and those only grew stronger with each minute that passed. What was even-?

Suddenly, he felt something grab the back of his jacket as he was suddenly jerked off his feet and placed back on the curb he had just walked off of.

And just before a car zoomed right over the spot he had just been standing on. He realized how close of a call that was. He had been extremely close to getting hit by the zooming car.

"You must be more careful," A kind voice said from behind Steven, his words holding a warmth that seemed to make the atmosphere around Steven just a tad brighter. "You never know where danger lurks."

Slowly, Steven turned his head and saw a familiar gentleman with blonde hair and nice blue suit standing over him with a small smile.

"Hello, Steven," Araki Hirohiko said, his smile becoming a little bigger as he crouched down so that his face was only inches away from Steven's own.

"Mr. Araki," Steven said, his voice absolutely miserable. Never before had he heard his own words sound so broken. "What are you doing here?" He asked.

"Why…" He trailed off, bringing his hand to Steven's face as he carefully wiped away at some of Steven's tears. "To see you, of course."

For some reason, the expression Arak looked at him with, the one that seemed to emit a gentle and benevolent glow, the smile that was one of the brightest and most kind Steven had ever seen…uneased him, slightly.

_To Be Continued~_


	9. A Chat With Demons

He would be lying if he said he planned this encounter.

Kira was a man who tried to prepare for any situation. He had thought up of many ways to escape from Morioh should the police eventually make their way to his house. Of course, that was before he had gotten his Stand. Before he had decided that absolutely nothing would ever force him to do anything to disrupt his life. He had held onto that belief ever since the day he unlocked his Killer Queen. Even when Stand Users were hunting him, and it would have been so easy to run away, he refused to do so. Even when his father had begged him to flee, he would not. For no matter what was conspiring to get rid of him, he would never let anyone or anything dictate how he should live his life. If he wanted to kill, he would kill. If he wanted to stop, he would stop.

But it would be his decision, and no one else's.

But the point still stood that he liked to plan for any unfortunate circumstances he may find himself in. Since he arrived in this dimension, he had prepared many plans for hundreds of different situations. He left Sheer Heart Attack and Let Me Live on the only routes one could take to get to Beach City, giving both bombs orders to stop a teenager with shitty taste in fashion should they spot him. And letting bombs made up of his will roam hundreds of miles away from him wasn't even difficult. It was vexing, and a tad tiring, but nothing more. The worst he ever felt were migraines at random points in the day. Other than that, he felt no strain in keeping Killer Queen's bombs in existence. In his evolved state, doing such a task was as simple as clipping his nails.

And in addition to preparing for Josuke, he had even thought about several plans to deal with the Crystal Gems. He had thought about sneaking into their base and blowing them up in their sleep. He imagined watching them like a hawk about to scoop up its prey as he waited for the right moment to strike. But ultimately, he decided to do nothing about the Crystal Gems unless there were absolutely no other options left. But that did not stop his mind from imagining so many enjoyable ways to end the "protectors" of Beach City.

But while he had prepared for multiple situations, while he had come up with numerous tactics to defeat his enemies, he would admit that killing a tiny green alien right in the middle of a very large crowd had not been a part of his plans.

Now, the people here knew something was going on in their town. The morons that were barely able to form a simple idea realized that their homes were not as safe as they thought. They had seen one of their protectors die in a vicious explosion. Someone who was supposed to be able to fight off the evils always threatening their town. Someone who was supposed to be invincible. A member of the magical woman had just been brutally executed, even though they had always beaten whatever evil the faced in the past, and now she was nothing more than dust fluttering in the breeze.

Their brains, despite their small stature, quickly realized something very important.

If something could kill their heroes, then what chances did they have?

The group of alien women that had always seemed to be undefeatable had just lost to a creature capable of killing one of their own. So how were the humans of Beach City supposed to survive against that kind of monster? For the first time, they had seen that the aliens were just as mortal as them.

For the first time, they truly realized how dangerous it was to live in a city that was constantly attacked by monsters from another world.

Honestly, how could it take them this long to realize something so obvious?

And now, the streets that were once bustling with people full of smiles and cheer, the town that once seemed so full of life was as empty as a graveyard. The few individuals who were out he had seen shouting at the mayor's office, demanding answers. As if that idiot could handle anything even remotely frightening. Somehow in a town full of morons, he was the dumbest one here. And no one seemed to even consider asking the remainder of their "protectors" what was going on. They didn't even think about asking the people who fought against aliens on a daily basis what happened. Even though they only lived a few miles away from the town, they somehow thought it would be better to yell and rant at the sniveling idiot who ran their town.

Sometimes the stupidity of humanity astounded him.

Of course, he doubted that the Crystal Gems would answer any repetitive and frankly stupid questions. They had just lost one of their own, so the last thing they wanted was to talk to some idiotic humans screaming questions. But still, he was amazed at just how dense the people who lived here were. Perhaps their stupidity was the reason why they seemed to be perfectly fine with the idea that life on other planets existed, yet did nothing about it. They were too absorbed in their daily stupidities to realize the ramifications of this fact.

In his case, he simply did not care what else existed in other worlds or even other dimensions. All he cared about was maintaining his tranquil life.

Which was why when he saw Universe, tears running down his face like water from a faucet, he saw the perfect opportunity to preserve his way of life.

And this was why he currently had an ice cream cone in each hand; strawberry in his right and chocolate in his left. Small trails of liquids dripped down the two frozen dairy treats; it wasn't that hot, but the ice creams were already melting as the cones became sticky and clung to his hands. But he didn't mind. His lips were in a small, charming smile as his eyes locked onto one of the people trying to obstruct his life.

Universe was currently sitting on a pale blue bench located right on the curb of the street, a garbage can located a short distance away. The miserable looking child looked up at him with eyes still drowning with tears. He carefully sat down next to Universe on the bench as he extended his left arm to the boy.

"Here you go," He said, making sure to make his smile just the tiniest bit bigger as Universe took the chocolate ice cream in one hand. It was subtle things that made one truly look normal. The small ways in which one's eyes seemed to soften in an instant or the number of breaths one released as they talked. He had practiced and mastered every form of expression. By now he was able to move his face in the tiniest of ways to make it seem like he truly was a kind man. And his skills in expressions had paid off so many times in the past, he could deceive anyone he wanted to if he placed enough effort into his act.

So tricking a grief-ridden child would be one of the easiest deceits he would ever accomplish.

"I'm sorry it took so long, most of the places I usually go to are closed today."

He could hear the tender warmth his words carried. And he could feel the sickening serenity lighting his face as Universe responded with a short nod. He did not miss how the boy's body visibly winced after the words left his mouth, and he knew why. The reason so many stores were closed today was that the owners were terrified of a monster they had yet to even see.

The same monster that had killed Universe's friend. He had made sure that he phrased his words in a way that would get a reaction out of the boy.

"I didn't know what flavor to get you, so I hope you like chocolate."

His purple eyes took in every detail of the small child's appearance. Shoulders slouched, eyes red and puffy and holding nothing but remorse; the boy did not even bother to look up at him as he barely gripped the cone in his hand. It did not take a genius to see just how broken this child was, and he questioned why his guardians would even let him wander the city alone in such state.

"It's fine." He could barely hear Universe. His voice was quieter than a mouse as the boy let out a heavy sigh. He brought his arm up to his face to wipe away the tears, and while moisture was still present in the corners of his eye, he stopped crying. And he could tell it was taking everything the boy had to stop the flow of tears. "Thank you."

"If you don't like it, you don't have to eat it." His smile was bright and cheerful, but Universe did not see it as he refused to look up.

"I'm sorry, I..." Universe trailed off. The hand that wasn't holding the ice cream gripped his pants viciously. Sorrow cracked in the boy's voice as he glanced towards him from the corner of his eye. "I'm just not in the mood for ice cream."

He had been waiting for the boy to say something along those lines.

"Yes, I suppose that's understandable." He forced his lips downward as his smile was replaced with a small frown. His eyes lost their cheer as he glanced at the floor, a motion he made sure was obvious to the child in front of him. "Considering what happened, I can't exactly blame you for not having an appetite." His words were spoken as quietly as he could make them. He let out a small sigh that would be loud enough for Universe to hear.

"Did you... see Peridot at Funland too?"

For the first time, Universe's head turned towards him and stared right into his eyes. The meaning behind the boy's words was clear as day.

"No." He answered, eyes holding just the right amount of sadness as his frown deepened. "But I did hear about what happened from some of the people here. I..." He paused for added effect, he knew Universe could hear the remorseful weight his words now held. "I'm sorry about your loss, Steven. I can not begin to imagine what it's like to see someone you love die in such a horrible way."

Of course, he had seen so many other people he felt no emotion towards die like the green alien had. By now, he was sure the number was in the hundreds.

Universe once again recoiled, his words creating even more misery within the boy. Regret flooded Universe's expression as tears began to brim in his eyes. The boy bit his lower lip as he let out another shaky sigh. He could practically see the painful memories his words had brought up. The despair that gripped at Universe's heart leaked into the air around them; if he had feelings, he might have felt a tad smothered by the suddenly morose atmosphere around him.

"Everyone's scared now. I might be new here, but even I can tell the town should never be this quiet. I suppose they think the Corrupted Gem might come after them next. But right now, I'm more concerned about you, Steven." He moved a little closer to Universe. He threw his ice cream cone into the trash and watched as it landed inside the can before turning back. He then placed a hand under Universe's chin as he gently brought his face upwards, staring into the boy's brown eyes. The boy dropped the cone in his hands as it landed on the curb. "You look awful. A child like you shouldn't have to be going through something like this, especially by yourself. Have you talked to your family about this yet?"

Universe looked away from him. He saw shame welling in the boy's eyes as unforgiving sorrow once again pooled in his expression. The face he made confirmed to him that Universe had not talked to his family yet. Clearly, the boy had purposely avoided speaking to them and was now most likely hating himself for doing so. The fact that his words implied Universe  _needed_  to talk to his family only made his pain so much worse. Universe had decided to not share his feeling with his family, which was a perfectly normal response for a child who had just seen someone murdered by a fiery explosion. Who would want to talk about the death of their loved one not even a day later?

And now, he could easily exploit Universe because of his decision.

"N-No, I haven't...yet." The small child looked away from Kira as his voice became incredibly low, almost inaudible. "Bu-But I will." Uncertainty twisted the boy's expression as he stared at the ground, becoming lost in his own little world.

"You don't sound so sure." His frown became just a little deeper as he gathered just a right amount of disappointment and placed it in his voice. That was one of the harder emotions to fake, even for him.

"I am!" Universe raised his voice for the first time as his eyes narrowed slightly. The boy's hardened expression almost immediately faded a second later, worry embedding itself into his features as he looked down. "I- I mean I will. Definitely..." He trailed off, his words becoming quieter as he continued to ramble. "Maybe." Universe finished, and the doubt in his voice could not have been any thicker. He could see the agony in his eyes as Universe struggled to fight against the despair gripping him, trying to figure out what he should do.

"I understand why you wouldn't want to talk to them." The boy looked back up at him with confusion rising in every part of his expression. But he could see that his words took Universe's mind off his pain. "I have gone through similar experiences Steven, so I can empathize with you better than most. The pain your feeling right now is something I am more than familiar with."

He put as much sorrow into his voice as he could, making sure the lines on his face were now heavy with grief as he looked down. For added emphasis, he placed both hands on the side of his head, just to make sure he looked as pitiful as possible.

"You... You have?" Without even looking up he could tell that he had Universe fully invested in his every word now. The boy was far too easy to understand. Tell him that you know his pain and suddenly he'll trust you like you've been his friend for ages. He could hear the desperate need to find someone to connect with hiding underneath his voice. A frantic plea to find someone to let out all of his pain too. With his family out of the option, he knew Universe was now considering the merits of sharing some of his distress with an ordinary businessman.

Just a few more pushes...

"Yes." He let out a somewhat shaky sigh. He could have forced a few tears out if he wanted too, but he refused to look too pathetic. Both because of pride in his appearance, and because he didn't want to oversell his act. "My son, I lost him when he was very young." His expression became melancholic. Remorse secreted from every word he spoke as he heard Universe let out a tiny gasp. He removed his hands from his head as he looked back up towards Universe, who had scooted a little closer to him. The boy's expression gleamed with sadness. But it was a different type of sorrow than before though, for this anguish was directed towards him and not the boy himself. He was surprised that Universe could still feel sorry for others when he was already dealing with his own agony, but he supposed fools like him always had bleeding-hearts.

"And I also lost my-." He found himself stopping. His breath hitched in his throat as he found his eyes glancing to the side for one second. He quickly looked back at Universe. "My wife."

Hmm, strange. In that moment, he didn't even have to force his body to go through those unnatural motions. His mind must have gotten used to acting like a sorrowful man and his body ran on autopilot for a moment.

"That's awful." Universe's voice was a hushed whisper. The boy brought his hands to his mouth in appalled shock as his eyes could not look away from him.

"Yes, it is." He agreed, though he hadn't felt even the tiniest bit of remorse about being taken away from Hayato and Shinobu. While he did lie, in some ways, he had in fact lost both his wife and son. And he felt absolutely nothing for the members of his old life.

Well, that wasn't entirely true. There were some days when he could imagine ripping Hayato's throat out for causing him such humiliation on the day he left his home forever. Enjoying the unmitigated horror mangling the little shit's expression as the last thing he would see would be his killer's victorious smirk.

"I'm so sorry," Universe's words snapped him out of his daydreams as he saw the boy looking away from him and back towards the ground. "I... I don't know what that's like."

"Yes, you do." He instantly drew Universe's attention with those words. The small child looked at him with a confused expression. "We both lost family, and the pain from it is the same. Whether you be young or old, losing someone you love always leaves a hole inside you."

He reached over to Universe's hands as he gently grabbed them with his own. He could feel his expression positively glowing with compassion. He was sure that if looked in a mirror, he might vomit from his own sickly sweet face.

"So I can understand what you're going through. I can understand why you wouldn't want to talk to your family. You don't want to burden them when they too are dealing with so much right now. And you don't want them to deal with your issues as well as their own."

Universe eyes widened slightly, surprised that "Mr. Araki" was able to tell what he was feeling. It wasn't that hard of a guess; from what he already knew about Universe, and what he was learning about the small child through their conversation, he could tell the boy liked to keep his feelings bubbled away until they reached their breaking point. Even after going through an intense trauma, Universe would willingly choose to remain silent on his feelings if he thought it would benefit others around him. Truly, this boy was so easy to read, his facial expressions alone gave way to every little thought running through his head.

"After I lost my family, I too did not want to talk to the people I loved." Just saying the word "love" made a nauseous disgust enter his body. He resisted the urge to click his tongue. "Eventually, though, a friend of mine was able to convince me to finally talk about what I was going through. He listened to me for hours, and at the end, I did feel better."

His eyes were now scanning every inch of Universe's body, expertly analyzing every small twitch and every subtle movement his face made. The way the boy kicked his legs, the way his fingers silently clawed at the seat of the bench, he saw it all with his purple irises. Universe eyes once again glanced at the ground, hesitance now slipping into his sullen expression as he opened his mouth before slowly closing it. Were he another fool of this city, he might have believed Universe was trying to find some words to console him for "his losses." But he knew what Universe really wanted to ask.

Universe wanted to ask him for help.

The key to getting people to talk about uncomfortable or depressing matters wasn't to just be blunt and go straight to the heart of the issue. Nor was it acceptable to just avoid the matter entirely. A person needed to be both gentle and patient if they wanted to discuss dire matters with someone who was deeply upset over said issues. They had to acknowledge that something was wrong, not turn a blind eye to a matter and pretend everything was normal; that way the recipient knew their pain was something to be taken seriously and was understandable. Slowly, like a doctor performing delicate surgery, one should carefully make progress towards the issue they wanted to talk about. But the recipient had to be the one to open up first; otherwise, they may just shut themselves down and refuse to talk at all.

Of course, the situations may vary, and different approaches may be more appropriate to use, even he knew that, but for a child who just lost a family member, being patient and waiting for them to talk first was the best solution. And he knew Universe would talk to him eventually about his friend's death. After all, he had been manipulating the boy throughout this conversation.

Purposely reminding him that the beast that killed his friend was still out there, causing the regret the boy already felt to rise and grab his heart. Pointing out the doubt in his voice when he said he would talk to his family, that way the boy would feel ashamed for not doing so and question if he ever would. And even telling him a ridiculous lie about knowing his pain, the boy believing him without a second thought. So now not only did Universe think he had gone through something similar to his own agony, but the boy also wanted to know how he had gotten past his pain. Adding in the fact that he had said talking to his friend had eased his pain, Universe would get the idea in his head that maybe the same could help him.

All that agony and grief can only stay bottled up in such a small body for so long. All the cruel hopelessness Universe had no doubt been feeling ever since seeing his friend die was by now crushing every fiber of his being.

So all he had to do-.

"Mr. Araki... Did talking to your friend really help that much?"

-Was wait for the right moment to strike.

He gave Universe his most benevolent smile. His eyes emitted empathy as he looked down at the small child before him.

"Yes, it really did."

Universe looked right into his eyes, the boy's expression held an almost adorable shyness as he let out a shaky breath.

"I... I really don't want to talk to my family right now...for reasons...but... can you...listen to me for a few minutes?"

His smile grew just the tiniest bit softer as he scooted closer to Universe. They were now sitting right next to each other as he let out a tiny chuckle.

"Of course, Steven. I would do anything to help you through such a difficult time."

The predatory shadows inside his mind laughed. The homicidal cruelty that made up his Stand was whispering into his ear to crush this boy; to show him the horrible, uncaring monster that had killed his friend. But he wouldn't do that right now; there'd be no reason for that course of action. But it was absolutely delightful to imagine Universe crying his eyes out before he was swallowed by a powerful explosion.

"Why don't we first talk about what you're feeling right now?" Universe looked down towards his stomach, why he did not know, but the boy quickly gazed back towards him.

"Right now... I'm just feeling really sad." Grief consumed every word he spoke as he let out another labored breath. "But... It's so much worse than any other type of sadness I've felt before."

"Well, that's natural. You're only a child, after all, and you haven't dealt with death before, have you?" He knew the answer to his question already. Universe was far from a battle-hardened warrior, so this was probably his first real encounter with death.

Universe once again looked down towards his stomach, but this time his gaze only lingered there for a second before looking back towards him. "No...technically."

He raised a brow, not expecting that last word. "Technically?" He could feel his expression enveloping with curiosity as his eyes narrowed just the tiniest bit. How could someone "technically" encounter death? Did he die and come back from the afterlife himself?

"I mean...there's only been one other person I've...sort of known who died, but..." He trailed off. By Universe's expression, he could tell the boy was struggling to find the right words as he waited patiently for Universe to finish. "I didn't know her as well as Peridot, and I didn't actually see her die right in front of me."

His voice became incredibly quiet when he spoke those last words. Sorrow washed over Universe's expression as he could see the regret filling the boy's eyes. Whoever this person was, Universe was clearly deeply troubled over, but he doubted he would get any answers as to who this woman was right now.

"Well, why don't you try going a little more descriptive about your feelings. For example, is the only thing your feeling right now sorrow? Or are you feeling other emotions in addition to that?" His demeanor had now become professional. While his smile and kind features were still present, he had adopted a posture similar to that of a psychologist. A gentle calmness was packed into every word he spoke, trying to lull Universe into a sense of ease and security.

"No." He looked, down, the boy radiated immense gloom with just one sigh as he gripped his chest with one hand. "I feel grief... misery...and they're only getting worse with every moment. I feel hurt, but this pain's way worse than taking a punch to the face or a giant rock hitting my body." He made a mental note of those last words. He was unsure if Universe was being metaphorical about being hit by a giant rock. If what he said was true, then the boy was more durable than his chubby appearance would imply. "It feels like my heart keeps getting cut into bits and pieces, like somethings clawing away at my stomach and...and their's absolutely nothing I can do to stop it."

"But you don't need to stop it, Steven."

Universe head whipped towards him, eyes widening as perplexion wrapped around his features. He took a moment to plan his next words.

"You can't stop something like this, Steven. When it comes to grief, the more you try and fight it off, the stronger it becomes. The best thing you can do is to stop struggling and let it run its course. Trust me, you'll feel much better if you just stop fighting."

He made sure to keep his smile as inviting as possible, despite the fact that he could feel his maliciousness trying to sneak into his expression.

"And the best way to stop fighting…" He once again paused. His purple eyes stared right into Universe's weak brown irises. The boy was now shifting in his seat.

"Is to go back to the night your friend died."

And now, it was time to take a gamble.

"Wha-What?!" Universe did not quite shout, but his voice did get louder. Confusion crawled across the boy's expression, not understanding what he was saying. But Universe's puzzlement was dwarfed by the horror contorting his features. While Universe might not fully understand what he was implying, his answers for what exactly he meant deeply frightened him.

"Please, calm down." He tried to sound as gentle as humanly possible. He must have succeeded, for Universe almost instantly seemed to be soothed by his words. The fear was still there, but it had diminished. He made sure his lips were still curled into a warm smile.

"What I mean is, you have to think back to the very moment you saw her die. Reimagine the exact situation in your mind, and let it play out again." He could see Universe was about to immediately object to this idea. He cut the child off before a single word could leave his mouth. "I know that this sounds like a horrifying plan and it seems like I just want to see you suffer, but it's quite the opposite. You see, if you continue to fight against your anguish, then eventually your grief is going to overwhelm you and cause you to act like a completely different person. So, it would be best to willingly allowing all those awful memories to come back to the surface on your own terms. The pain you will feel might become unbearable, but after reliving that moment, it may also decrease; if only slightly."

This was risky, he knew that, but he needed to push Universe in this direction. He knew he was being a bit too blunt and a tad hasty the moment he suggested the boy think back to when his friend died. As he said before, one needed to be patient, not reckless when talking about such painful issues.

But he had to make sure the little midget had said nothing about him before she died.

Last time he had been careless. He had thought that when he blew up Shigechi, he had prevented anyone from discovering the monster living in Morioh, and his quiet life was secured.

He could not have been more wrong.

All because of a damn paper bag and a button, the events that would cause him to go through hell were set in motion. He vowed to never be caught so unprepared ever again and would make sure to stay three steps ahead of his enemies. He had to find out what exactly happened in the green alien's last moments and learn whether or not she revealed even the slightest detail about the monster she had fought.

It was the entire point of starting this conversation with Universe in the first place.

And he could see no other way to get Universe to tell him about his friend's death without being somewhat forceful. He knew that there was a chance that Universe would stop their conversation right here and now, but he had already stacked the deck in his favor with his earlier words. He had already manipulated Universe throughout their talk, so he knew the chances were high that he would listen.

The fact that Universe had a troubled yet contemplative expression on his face told him that the boy was considering what he should do.

"I understand your hesitance Steven, but if you want to truly feel better, thinking and talking about Peridot's death is the first step towards recovery. I need you to be willing to discuss every single detail about what happened leading up to her death. I need you to be strong and talk about every horrible sight you saw because if you run away from these images and thoughts, you'll only get worse. I need you to trust me, Steven, for I promise you I will do everything I can to help you."

His voice dripped with kindness. He knew his expression emitted a warm, inviting glow as he smiled. His eyes stared right into Universe's brown irises, watching as hesitance contorted the boy's features and his hands clutched his pants legs again. But slowly, the confusion and doubt soon left his eyes as the boy let out a shaky breath.

"I...is that really the best choice?"

"Yes, it is."

For a moment neither spoke. He waited, to him the seconds seemed to be moving slower than before as his eyes narrowed just the tiniest bit. A touch of uncertainty slipped into his body, but he quickly extinguished that feeling.

He was a master of deceit. Getting a child to talk to him was something he could do in his sleep.

"Okay."

He had to strain his ears to hear that one word Universe muttered, but he heard it none the less. He had to resist the urge to let out a chuckle as his smile grew a little wider.

Hook, line, and sinker. And the fool didn't even try to put up much of a fight.

"You're making the right choice, Steven." Universe looked down to the ground, already apprehensive about what he was about to do. He still maintained his calm demeanor, which was getting a little difficult as he tried to ignore the sudden rise of excitement in his chest. But he couldn't show any signs of emotion other than benevolence; otherwise, Universe would get suspicious. Though, he somewhat doubted the child would notice in his current state.

He carefully considered how to phrase his next words.

"Now then, what exactly happened on that day?"

"We..." Universe trailed off, his body trembling as he clenched his eyes shut. "We...we were planning on just having a good time. Me, Peridot, and another Gem named Lapis." He hadn't heard that name before. She must have been a newer addition to the Crystal Gems, and he now wanted to fill in every bit of data he could get on this new alien.

"And who is this Lapis?"

"She's another Gem. She's blue and can control water." Universe answered quickly. The boy leapt at the nearest chance to talk about something other than the green alien. Though, Universe knew it would only be for just a moment. His mind immediately dissected the meaning behind those words the moment they left the boy's mouth. Controlling one of the most abundant elements on the planet instantly made her a dangerous threat. He remembered seeing Universe flying through the air on someone's back when he was chasing the green midget. He remembered the blue skin he saw through his Stand's eyes, and deduced that the girl he had seen was this "Lapis." If she could control her powers in a way that could give her flight, that meant she could use water in ways even he might not expect. The only other question he needed an answer to now was how much she could-.

"She can even control the entire ocean if she wanted to."

...What?

That one offhanded comment Universe had for some reason thought wasn't important made him lean further back into the bench.

"The ocean?" He repeated.

"Yeah."

"As in, the  _entire_ ocean. She can manipulate  _every drop_  of seawater on the planet if she wished?"

"...Yeah?"

It took every part of him to keep his expression the same. He would not show his shock no matter what, and he certainly would not allow his emotions to break the fake demeanor he had spent years crafting. He kept the kind expression on his face despite the fact that he was suddenly very tempted to let out a curse.

"I see." his smile was still bright as his serene features never wavered. He hadn't even flinched or shown any signs of discomfort, but it wouldn't have mattered anyway since Universe had yet to look up to him.

He slowly clenched his right hand into a tight fist.

Of all the powers, of all the abilities he had faced in the past, nothing was ever as destructive as what Universe had just described. The Stands he had faced were strong, the mere fact he was willing to admit this was more than enough proof, and each User he fought had been terrifying in their own right.

But none had the sheer power one blue alien held.

The ability to control the ocean in its entirety, to manipulate the thing that blanketed the earth. That was something new, and something that would cause even him problems. He could imagine how easy it would be for her to drown someone who displeased her. To crush some poor fool underneath a wave. To end their life with as much ease as making instant ramen. His Stand was capable of handling anything. Both he and Killer Queen stood on a mountain few could reach. But even he knew there were still threats slowly climbing towards him. And this Lapis had just elevated herself to the same level as Josuke; both equally capable of making him sweat, if only slightly. There were now two annoyances he needed to deal with.

Perhaps he would pay her a visit.

"So Lapis was a friend of Peridot?"

"Yeah, she was. She lived with her up in the barn outside the town, but now..." Universe trailed off, once again. He made sure to go check out this barn the moment their conversation ended. It would be best to examine the blue alien, and then he would decide when and where he would kill her. "But now with Peridot dead, she's probably really torn up. Maybe even worse than me."

He needed to focus back on the issue at hand. He could find out more about this water Gem later, but for now, he needed to learn if the midget had told Universe anything.

"You said that you were planning something on that day, correct? What exactly were you planning on doing?"

"Just...watching the fireworks from their barn. Peridot had to take care of some things, so me and Lapis waited for her to come back. But then we got...her message."

He made sure not to visibly react to his words. He had thought for sure he had destroyed the green alien's damned tablet before she could send a message. In his mind, he could see the familiar events that would lead to him fighting Josuke and eventually getting clobbered by Crazy Diamond. He suddenly realized how very easy it would be for Killer Queen to touch Universe's shirt and watch the boy be blown to smithereens.

But he would not let his bloodlust get the better of him.

"And just what,"He swore he could feel his fingernails growing by the second. They became as sharp as daggers that could easily pierce Universe's eyes. He opposed the urge to gnash his teeth. "Did she say?"

"Just that she was busy, and that she might be a little bit late for the fireworks."

The moment those words full of sorrow left Universe's mouth, the desire to murder the boy lessened dramatically. She must have sent that message before she had begun to follow him. Why she didn't tell the boy exactly what she was doing in her message, he still could not figure out. Perhaps she did it because she believed she could protect her comrades from harm and take care of him by herself.

How sweet.

"I didn't think much at first, but I felt like something bad was happening. I thought Peridot had gotten into trouble, that somewhere she was struggling and getting hurt. I told myself I was being paranoid, but as more time passed, I couldn't shake that bad feeling. It grew more and more, and when Peridot still hadn't contacted me, I knew something was going on. So Lapis and me went to help her out of whatever trouble she had gotten into but-."

He abruptly stopped, letting out a sniffling sound as the corners of his eyes began to brim with water. He wondered if this was how the families of the people he killed reacted when they finally learned that their loved ones were dead. Dried snot present on their faces, sadness engulfing their expressions as they tried desperately to wrap their brains around the fact that the ones they cherished were dead.

Did everyone who was grieving look this pathetic?  

"Is it at this point you two arrived at the fair?"

Universe nodded.

"Then tell me, what exactly happened there? Please, I know this is difficult, but do not spare any details."

Once again, another shaky breath. He wanted to roll his eyes at the boy's repetitive responses, but he held himself back.

"I...when we got there, we met up with Connie." He had seen the girl with glasses at the festival when he arrived before the green alien, but he was able to avoid her sight easily. She had been focused on taking pictures with her phone at the time. "We asked her if she had seen Peridot, but she hadn't. So then we split up, Lapis searched from the sky and me and Connie looked on the ground. And after a while we...we heard her scream."

The haunted looked his eyes gained was something that he supposed would be disturbing to other people.

"She shouted my name, and she sounded so terrified. I was running before I knew it, and when I saw her, I thought she was a different person. It wasn't just the cracks in her body, but the fear on her face made her look so different from before. I've never seen anyone look so afraid in my life, it was like her fear was.. glaring right at me. I tried to get to her, I tried to reach her and help her. I wanted to say everything was going to be okay, I wanted to save her but... I didn't."

His eyes were in a daze, staring at the ground in front of him as if there was something there. As if the boy could see his little friend standing only a few feet away from him. Universe did not look up towards him as his undivided attention was focused solely on the empty spot on the road.

"She exploded, right in front of me. I was sent flying back and hit the ground. People were screaming, running everywhere and scared out of their minds. I got up as fast as I could, thinking maybe she survived. Maybe she was okay. But when I stepped into the flames, I saw her broken Gem pieces."

Tears spilled down his face. The child's endless grief filled his expression, his sobs, and even the air around them. He could tell the sorrow emitting from the boy's eyes was only a fraction of what was twisting every part of his soul. Every fiber of Universe's being was now soaked with misery.

"I tried my powers, but they didn't do anything. I.. I couldn't do anything!" Universe shouted, hands clenching the sides of his head as his bloodshot eyes widened. The child's sorrow leaked from every word and flooded the streets. The boy looked as if he was on the verge of a panic attack; it seemed like one of the protector's of Beach City was about to have his mind shatter into pieces. The way his breathing had become erratic and labored made it clear he was so close to losing grips with the reality around him should nothing be done.

That would not do. He needed to find out more information. Universe having a mental breakdown would only make this more difficult. He needed to prevent this brat from losing his sanity or else the whole conversation would have been a waste of time.

And to ensure the conversation would continue, he...had...to...

Damn it. It was like Shinobu all over again.

Slowly, his arms moved through the air. He screamed at his body to move and complete this sickening gesture. Even though every part of his mind was disgusted by what he was about to do, he still persisted. Even though he felt the contents of his stomach rise to his throat, he still continued. The ruthless demons that made up his psyche were practically begging him to stop, but he would not.

He would take what he was about to do to his grave.

In an instant, his arms wrapped around Universe in a tender hug.

"It's okay." He said, making sure to not to shiver in disgust at what he was doing. The compassion in his voice gave no clues to the revulsion growing inside him. The kindness glowing from his words made it impossible for Universe to know about the torture he was going through. His disgust became more nauseous with every passing second; for a moment, he was  _very_  tempted to use his Stand to kill the child and end this moment.

But he suppressed that urge and continued to hug Universe.

Universe buried his head into his stomach. The child must likely meant to aim for his chest, but due to their height difference, his face instead hit the upper parts of his stomach. He could feel Universe's mucus and tears staining his neat shirt and business suit. At some point, a purple aura had surrounded him and his hands moved closer to Universe's neck. He immediately ceased channeling his power and moved his hands back to the brat's back. Universe continued to cry as his fingers gripped his clothes in a tight hold, the strength of his grip was greater than that of any child. He wondered just how strong the boy really was when he wasn't holding back.

"Just let it out Steven. Just let it out." That sounded like something a caring man would say. A man who could actually feel. Universe continued to weep, grabbing him in an even tighter hug. He was already very uncomfortable with this situation, but the strength Universe was gripping him with only made it worse; the boy's strength was something even he would admit was great.    

Which was why he felt as if his back would snap in two. He could once again hear the shadows of his mind scream at him to end the boy before the idiot ended up breaking his spine.

But thankfully, Universe ceased the hug. The boy scooted away from him as he brought his arm to try and wipe away the tears. He failed spectacularly. From underneath the sleeve of his jacket he could see the boy's tears hit his blue jeans. He was surprised one person could have wept such massive tears. Surely there had to be a point when he'd run out.

"Sh-She di-didn't... I-I couldn't..."

He continued to incoherently ramble for another few minutes. His head never left his sleeve as the sounds of his sobbing continued to grate his ears. He slowly lifted his arm and patted Universe on the back. He looked towards the sky, and he could feel boredom etch itself into his face. Universe wouldn't be looking up for a while, so he felt it was safe to take off his mask. Was the boy even breathing at this point? It seemed like he had yet to suck in any air and instead choose to cry until it was dark.

"I-I didn't see it. The C-Corrupted G-Gem killed her right in front of me, and somehow I missed it! How could I-I miss it?! How could I fail so badly?!"

Maybe it was because the boy had decided to try and disrupt his quiet life? Maybe it was because he liked to play hero to much for his own good when he really should have stayed at home watching whatever garbage kids liked? Maybe it was because that he and the rest of his alien family weren't as powerful as they thought? Any one of these reasons could explain why he and the rest of these idiots were so clueless as to how the world-.

"S-She... She didn't even get a chance to say goodbye!"

That sentence brought him out of his thoughts. He looked down at Universe as his eyes narrowed.

"She didn't say anything to you before she died?"

He jumped at this chance before the chubby moron could continue to ramble.

"N-No!"

"Are you sure? Nothing whatsoever?"

He had to be absolutely sure. He would not repeat the same mistake.

He could hear the faint noise of a familiar Stand's battle cry echo in his ears.

"Nothing!"

And with that wail, he knew. With that sob swirling with regret, he had his answer. He could hear how sure Universe was. How certain the boy was that his green friend hadn't said anything.

He was safe. The boy next to him didn't know anything.

It took everything he had to not let out even a tiny smirk.

The boy was still crying into his sleeve.

"There, there Steven."

He smiled. It was a genuine smile this time. He had been fretting over nothing. The "protectors" of this city hadn't gotten some last second clue to could lead them to him.

These fools were still in the dark about the true identity of the monster living in their town.

"It hurts, doesn't it? The sorrow, the regret, the fear."

It was time to end their conversation.

"It all seems unbearable. It seems like your body can't take any more agony."

This fool had already given him everything he needed.

"But this is the first step in recovery Steven. Accept your pain, don't try and keep it bottled up."

Universe looked up from his sleeve, tears still spilling from his eyes. But beneath the sorrow, he could see in Universe's brown irises something faint. It was something that still lived despite the despair strangling every part of his body.

It was hope.

"This is the moment when you need to decide how to move on. This is the moment that either breaks you or makes you stronger."

He gave Universe the biggest most benevolent smile a killer like him could give.

"After seeing everything you can do, I know you'll make the right decision. I know you have the power to overcome your agony, Steven."

There. That sounded like the perfect way to end their talk. He had given the boy advice that sounded wise and now could leave without looking strange. He was sure the boy was taking his words to heart and trying to figure out how to move past his pain.

But he knew it was going to get so much worse.

Now then, where was this barn? If he hurried, he was sure-.

"Power..."

That one word almost made him frown, but he resisted and still had the same smile. Really? Was he going to continue their talk? What else could the little idiot possibly-?

"You think I'm..."

It was the bitterness in his voice that he first noticed. It was venomous. He could feel it slowly wrap around his throat, ready to choke him at any moment.

"Strong?"

Foul disgust secreted from Universe lips and suffused the air around him.

Huh. It looked as if the boy had a side to himself even he hadn't expected.

"I'm not strong."

The tears were still there. Universe had stopped crying, but he could see moisture still present in his puffy eyes.

"Everyone keeps telling me that I am. My dad, the Gems, they keep telling me that I am when I'm not. They think that if they tell me enough times it will become true."

Anger was beginning to rise in his words. The boy looked down at his stomach.

"I'm Rose Quartz's son but I can't even save one of my own family."

He gripped something underneath his jacket.

"I  _am_ her."

He was glaring at him now. And the anger had become searing.

"After everything I've heard from the others, after everything they told me what she could do, I know for a fact she could have saved Peridot."

He stopped glaring, eyes lowering to his stomach once more.

"But I couldn't."

All of Universe's anger left his voice. In its place was only a void. A cruel, hopeless void that felt absolutely nothing.

"I'll never be Rose Quartz, leader of the Crystal Gems."

But Kira did not focus on the boy's emotionless gaze or his expression devoid of any emotion.

Instead, he focused on what Universe had just said.

"You  _are_ her?"

Universe eyes moved to look back him.

"Huh?"

"You said you are her. Are you being literal when you say that?"

Universe raised a brow. As if he had just said something ridiculous.

"Ye-Yeah."

"How?"

His thirst for information got the better of him.  He failed to suppress the slight bite in his voice and had let a bit of his malice slip into his words. His true self had shown itself for the first time.  

But Universe didn't seem to notice. Instead, he just looked perplexed.

"How?" He repeated.

"Yes, how?" This time he had removed any traces of maliciousness from his voice; there was only genuine curiosity left in its place.  

Universe's eyes moved down to his jacket. The boy then grabbed his jacket and the shirt underneath with his hand before bringing it up.

He was now looking at a pink gem.

"This is my mom's Gem. She gave up her physical form to give birth to me. I inherited her gemstone, and now she's always a part of me."

He felt his eyes narrow slightly.

"Alright, but what does that mean?"

The perplexion expanded.

"What?"

"What does, "give up her physical form" mean?"

It was interesting to hear that these aliens could give birth. But his mind immediately wanted to know how the process worked.

"Did she physically remove her gemstone and place it in you? Was it at the exact moment she was born that she ceased to exist?"

He looked at the pink gem.

"Does she still have some form of conscience?"

"I..."

Universe trailed off. His hands let go of his jacket and shirt as his gem was once again covered.

"I don't know."

He didn't know? That was ridiculous. What kind of child wouldn't know how he entered the world? Was he being discreet to avoid further questioning?

"You don't know how you were born?" The skepticism rising within him engulfed his voice. Honestly, what was the big deal about-?

"No."

He heard it again. The biting venom was once again present in Universe's voice. It was not as much as before, but he could still see the sharp bitterness in his words.

Only this time it wasn't directed at either him or the boy himself.

"They didn't tell me."

Universe's eyes glanced to the floor. But this time, there was no sadness or grief swirling in his eyes.

Only anger. A faint anger granted, but it was still there. It was still slowly rising and burning within the boy's brown irises.

"They?"

"The Gems."

The demons in his mind were screaming at him.

Something was here. Something that could get rid of these nuisances a lot faster than he first thought.    

There was blood in the water. And the shadows swirling in his mind were commanding him to follow the trail.

His lips moved back into their sickly sweet smile.

"I think we should talk more about your guardians, Steven."

He'd be a fool not to see where the trail leads him to.

_To Be Continued~_


	10. History Lesson

"Wh-what?"

He hadn't expected those words. He hadn't expected their talk to head in this direction.

"I think it would be best to talk about the other Gems now, Steven."

Steven did not like what Mr. Araki was asking him.

"Why?"

It should have made him relieved to talk about anything other than Peridot. To forget about his grief. But he found himself moving away slightly from Mr. Araki. And he suddenly felt uneasy; like he shouldn't be talking to the blonde businessman.

But he had no idea why.

Mr. Araki still wore the same pleasant smile. It was a smile that had only lost its kindness once or twice throughout their talk when they were discussing his dead family. He felt his worry grow as it continued to scratch at his mind and for the first time since he woke up, he could no longer feel the sorrow eating away at his soul.

He could only feel anxiety now. For apparently no reason at all.

"Because there's something I wish to confirm, Steven."

"What's that?"

Mr. Araki looked right into his eyes. He felt uncomfortable staring into the man's purple pupils. He did not know why; they emitted a gentle warmth that he had only seen from the Gems before now. There was nothing about Mr. Araki's purple eyes that should cause him to feel so unsettled.

"First, I like to ask you a question."

He had yet to see Mr. Araki blink. And that made him want to look away. But for some reason, he found his eyes would not move. It was like he was trapped in the businessman's gaze.

He felt his heart beating faster than usual.

"You said you don't know how you were born, correct?"

His stomach twisted. A familiar pain entered his body and was now residing in his heart.

"Yes."

He really wanted to look away.

"Tell me, how often has this happened?"

He raised an eyebrow.

"Wha...what do you mean?"

"I mean, how often do your guardians not explain things that you should know?"

Too often. He couldn't even begin to count how many things he still didn't know about the Gems. He still had no knowledge of the world they came from. He still knew nothing about the Corrupted Gems he fought.

He still didn't know anything about the Crystal Gems' past.

"I don't know."

"That's not a good answer."

His hands curled into a fist. He wasn't being fair. Mr. Araki wasn't being fair. They might not tell him stuff, but he still knew enough. He knew who they were as people.

That was all that mattered.

"Does it matter?"

His eyes narrowed at Mr. Araki.

"Of course it does."

"Why?"

"Because, Steven, this sounds like..."

Mr. Araki trailed off. His eyes glanced to the side and stayed there.

He felt fear slip into his body; it slithered and quickly gripped his chest.

"Wh-What?"

"Nevermind. I believe I was mistaken."

Something was growing within him.

"No, what is it?"

"It's nothing. If you say that it doesn't matter, then surely it's inconsequential."

Whatever was growing within him was beginning to rot. It was something that begged to leave his body. It wasn't fear, this was different—too toxic to be fear. And the pain he suddenly felt was different from the one he had been feeling from his sorrow. This pain was somehow more agonizing than his grief. And it was familiar. He had felt this feeling before, had felt the same thing skewing him to the spot multiple times in the past.

He could barely even breathe now as he shakily spoke.

"Just tell me, please."

Mr. Araki looked back at him.

"Well... I suppose, to me, it sounds like their keeping secrets from you."

Secrets.

So many times he had thought about the hushed whispers the Gems told each other when he wasn't there, had thought about all the terms and names they knew but he didn't. So many times he thought about how his enemies kept telling him things he hadn't know before. About how they informed him more about his heritage than then his own family.

_I watched the leader of the Crystal Gems, Rose Quartz, shatter Pink Diamond!_

So many times did he want to know what they were keeping from him. He desperately wanted to know what secrets they refused to tell him.

The secrets he  _deserved_ to know.

"At least, that's what it sounds like to me. I could be wrong though."

He did not respond. He once again found himself unable to look away from Mr. Araki's pupils.

"Well, you're wrong. The Gems wouldn't do that."

Even he could hear how pathetic his words sounded. He could almost see the doubt flooding his voice as he spoke; he felt the uncertainty whirling in his expression.

"Steven, be honest. Do you think your guardians keep secrets?"

Mr. Araki's words made his pain so much worse, turning it cold. His body felt like it was suddenly transported to the middle of a blizzard.

He did not want to talk. He wanted to just sit in silence.

"Steven...please answer the question."

But those words suddenly commanded him to speak; as if his mouth was forced to speak. Mr. Araki's words urged him to talk.

To finally admit what he had known for so long.

"Yes."

The pain actually seemed to decrease, and the coldness began to fade

Mr. Araki lips were back in his kind smile.

"I know that must have been difficult to admit, but these questions serve a purpose."

He had never really known anyone who sounded as nice as Mr. Araki. Beach City was full of good people, but Mr. Araki was different. He seemed to be full of nothing but cheer and kindness. He barely knew anything about him, but already he could tell what kind of man Mr. Arakri was. Someone who cared for others around him. Someone who always gave people a joyful smile when he felt they needed it most.

But for some reason, he could hear something telling him that Mr. Araki's kindness was the reason why he felt so anxious. Like it was... unnatural for anyone to be so nice.

He blinked as he realized just how dumb those thoughts were. People were nice. There wasn't anything wrong with that.

"Now, tell me, why do you think they keep secrets?"

"I... I guess to protect me."

"Protect you from what?"

He opened his mouth, but no words came out. He tried to think of an answer, but nothing came to his mind.

"Steven?"

"... I don't know."

"Are you seeing the same thing I am?"

"What?"

"That your guardians seem to have a habit of not explaining things to you."

Those words could not have been more accurate. There were so many times he could think of where a simple explanation would have helped him greatly. So many problems that could have been solved if the Gems explained anything to him. Mysteries that could be solved in an instant if they just talked to him.

So why didn't they? Why was he the one who always had to try and figure things out by himself?

Why did they feel the need to exclude him?

He shook his head. That...that wasn't right. They didn't exclude him. They...they loved him. He couldn't forget that one basic fact.

They loved him. That was what mattered the most. Not their secrets. And not anything else.

"They have their reasons for not telling me stuff. I'm sure of it."

Mr. Araki raised an eyebrow.

"Really? That is what you believe?"

He gave him a firm nod. They were his family. He trusted them with his life. And he knew they felt the same.

"Yes."

"Steven..."

Mr. Araki paused. There was something in his expression that he didn't like. Something that seemed to say the blonde gentleman knew something he did not. Some emotion he could not identify whirled in his face as the businessman tried to put what he wanted to say into words.

He could feel his fear once again rise and twist inside him; a dull and painful throb suddenly appeared in his chest.

"Let me ask you this Steven. Do you think their secrets have ever caused you problems?"

"Wha-What do you mean?"

"I mean, do you think there has ever been a time in your life where their secrets have directly or inadvertently caused you harm in some way?"

What? Of course no-

"Or perhaps a mistake from their past causing harm to someone you know?"

His thoughts stopped dead in their tracks.

And his mind became consumed by images. Images of a mirror. Images of his friend crying her heart out after finally being set free. Images of a blue woman who was so furious she nearly killed the Gems.

He was not sure when, but he had started to sweat.

"I take it by your expression that the answer to my question is a yes."

He let out long shaky breaths. He slowly brought a trembling arm up to wipe away his sweat. He had recalled that memory so many times in the past, but it had never felt so intense before. This was the first time he had practically been transported back to that night. The first time he his eyes had practically zoomed in on Lapis' tear-stained face. He could feel the anguish that radiated from her frail body on that day on the beach.

And it was horrifying.

"N-No, that-I mean, that's not right."

Mr. Araki's eyes narrowed. And the man in front of him seemed far more stern than he did moments ago; he felt the intensity from the businessman's pupils. He was surprised that Mr. Araki could look so...intimidating.

"Steven, please don't lie. You're trembling like a law student scrambling to answer questions on a test he doesn't know the answers to. If the Gems have hurt you because of their mistakes, then-."

"No! They haven't hurt me! It's just-!"

He didn't know if he should talk about that night. If he should talk about Lapis. It wasn't his place to speak about her past to people she did not even know.

"It's complicated."

He knew that the answer he gave was weak, but he couldn't think of anything else to say. He couldn't tell him about Lapis and the mirror unless she gave him permission. And he knew she would never do that; she would rarely ever talk about the trauma she went through, even to him. Instead, she chose to ignore it and try to move on with her life...even though she was failing horribly at forgetting the damage a thousand years locked in a mirror had done to her.

And he could only imagine what seeing her best friend die only a few feet away from her most have done to her already fragile mind.

Mr. Araki let out a sigh. He pinched the bridge of his nose with two fingers.

"Steven, is there some reason you're not telling me what your guardians did?"

The blonde businessman was frustrated. Mr. Araki wanted to help him, but he knew that he was making that rather difficult due to his hesitance.

"It's not-I mean technically-."

He took a moment to wipe more cold sweat away from his forehead.

"I can't tell you what exactly happened because that would mean I would have to tell you about something bad that happened to one of the Gems. And I can't do that because it's not my right to tell her story behind her back."

He had finally found the right words to express his situation. Mr. Araki raised another eyebrow. The blond gentleman seemed to take a moment to think about his words. And a second later, it looked like he found an answer to his problem.

Mr. Araki gave him another smile full of affection.

"Steven, do you know what doctor-patient confidentiality is?"

"No, what's that?"

"Well, normally it applies to when a psychiatrist talks to his patient. You see, the psychiatrist can't talk to anyone about anything his patient has said to him during their sessions."

"You're a psychiatrist?"

"Well, no. But do you know why a psychiatrist can't talk to anyone about what their patients say to them?"

"Because they don't want you to tell other people what they said?"

"Yes, that's part of it. But there is a much larger reason as to why."

Mr. Araki leaned a little closer to his face. The smile on his lips grew a bit bigger.

"It's so that the patient feels comfortable talking to their psychiatrist. It's so that they know they don't have to hide anything from them. Even if what they say involves other people."

The smile he wore became even bigger. It was so compassionate that he could feel the warmth leaving Mr. Araki's lips with each word he spoke. The businessman's voice compelled him to talk. It assured him that it was okay to talk about whatever he felt the need to keep secret.

"So know that no matter what you say, I will keep it to myself. If you're worried about revealing something personal about your friends, don't be."

He looked down to the bench. He shouldn't even be thinking about this. Lapis wouldn't want him to do this.

"I promise that I won't tell a soul about whatever we discuss here. Any personal details you tell me about your guardians will be locked safely away in my mind."

Mr. Araki was a kind man. Of that, he had no doubts. He wouldn't do something that would harm either him or his friends. He knew that the businessman would keep his word. The benevolence packed into his every word basically assured him of that fact.

But he still wasn't sure...

"Besides, I feel like your family would want you to take whatever steps necessary. They love you, you said so yourself. Surely they wouldn't mind you talking about them if it meant you'd recover faster? If you can talk freely to me, then I know we can make some real progress with helping you deal with your problems."

He...did not know the answer to that question. Would they really not mind? If something was upsetting him, then maybe he could imagine Lapis wanting to do anything to help him out. She gave Peridot, the gem who had captured her, another chance simply because he asked. Even though she was against the idea, she still listened to him. So maybe he could picture her giving him permission, even if it meant him talking about her past and all the pain she suffered through.

But he felt that if he shared some of the Gems' past, they would not like that. He had trouble imagining them being completely fine with revealing their past to a human they'd never met.

Well, considering all the secrets they liked to keep from him, was it really that surprising?

...He did not like how resentful that last thought sounded.

"I... I mean, I guess they'd be okay with it."

Yeah. They definitely would be fine with it. He was just...being paranoid, that was all. If it was to help him, he knew they wouldn't get upset over talking about their past. After all, they loved him. They wouldn't mind at all.

They'd understand...they'd absolutely understand.

"Good. Now, let's get back to our previous question."

Mr. Araki crossed his right leg over his left. The man's purple eyes once again gazed into his pupils.

"Before you said that technically one of your friends had been harmed because of your guardians keeping secrets. Could you go into more details about what happened?"

"Well..."

He took in a long breath.

This was to get help. Mr. Araki promised him this would help him get over his grief. It was the right thing to do.

"Lapis, the Gem I told you about before-."

"The one who can control the ocean?"

"Yeah, her. She...ended up trapped in a mirror for thousands of years because of the Gems."

There was a pause. And after a few seconds, the blonde gentleman spoke.

"...A mirror?"

Mr. Araki seemed intrigued by his words as he stared.

"If it's alright with you, can you go into a little bit as to how your Gem biology works? I'm afraid I'm a tad...in the dark about certain aspects of your physiology."

It was a fair question. Rarely anyone in Beach City knew how the Gems' bodies actually worked.

Though, he was a bit surprised. To him, Mr. Araki didn't seem all that distressed over hearing someone going through such a trauma. Then again, maybe the businessman just hadn't fully processed his words yet.

"Well, Gems are kind of like..."

He tried to remember how Pearl phrased it.

"Holograms with mass. They don't have a physical form; instead, their bodies are projections of their gemstones. And if their gemstones get damaged-."

He stopped talking.

He could hear Peridot again. He could hear her screaming his name. Could feel the fire that killed her burn his skin. Her terrified face flashed through his mind. The fear was unlike any he had seen before. He could feel the agony she was going through just before...before...

"If they get damaged..."

Another image of her cracked gem appeared in his mind. The rock that had once been a part of his family was burnt pitch black. The friend he had made was now gone. In an instant, everything that she ever was had been wiped off the face of the earth.

"If they get damaged..."

Sorrow submerged him. He could feel it flooding his body. Could feel it drown every thought he had. With each second it became all the more painful. A torrent of icy water had submerged his heart and it made every twitch of his body agonizing. The world around him grew darker as his body trembled.

"If they get damaged..."

In the darkness surrounding him, he suddenly another image appeared in front of him

The same thing that was from his dream.

In the darkness, he could see a pair of pink eyes glaring at him.

"Steven?"

The darkness faded.

He whipped his head to the side.

And saw two purple pupils staring down at him.

"Tissue?"

In Mr. Araki's hand was a blue handkerchief.

He brought a hand to his eyes. And he realized that he was crying again.

"Tha-Thank you."

His voice had never sounded so raw before. It had never been so full of misery once in his life.

He wiped away the tears with the neat napkin.

"I know this is difficult Steven, but you must continue. It will help me greatly, I can promise you that."

He gave him another smile. This one somehow had even more kindness in it than his last smile. That smile made him feel safe. Mr. Araki's words made his grief easier to handle. With just a small gesture, he had made him feel just the tiniest bit better since this day began.

"Now then, let's get back to Ms. Lazuli. We can talk about your biology later. You said she was stuck in a mirror for a thousand years, correct?"

His lips moved into a frown.

"Yeah. It was awful for her. Not being able to move for centuries. Not being able to go back to her home. And she spent all that time alone."

He looked down.

"It really messed her up."

When he looked back up, Mr. Araki had a frown on his face. He could see the sorrow forming in his expression as he glanced to the side. He must have felt bad that someone had to go through such an awful tragedy. The man was extremely empathic to other people's problems.

"I can imagine. She must still have nightmares about such an ordeal."

His eyes then moved back to him.

"But how exactly is her getting trapped in a mirror your guardians' fault?"

He let out a breath.

"Well, they didn't trap her in the mirror, someone else had done that during the Gem War-."

"Gem War?"

Mr. Araki raised an eyebrow.

He quickly realized his mistake.

"Oh sorry. The Gem War was this big war fought on earth between the rebellion, the original Crystal Gems, and Homeworld, the bad Gems."

"So what you are saying is there was a war fought on earth between an alien race?"

"Yeah. Homeworld wanted to take earth for its resources, but my mom and the other Crystal Gems stopped them."

"So, during this war was when Ms. Lapis became trapped in a mirror?"

"Yeah. Apparently, Homeworld thought she was a Crystal Gem and they trapped her in the mirror. When the war was over, they left her on earth and that's when the Crystal Gems found her."

He took a moment to pause. He wanted to make sure he hadn't lost Mr. Araki. When the man nodded his head, he took that as his sign to continue.

"They took her in, but they didn't know she was in the mirror. So, they basically left her in storage for thousands of years."

He still had trouble believing that the Gems had been so...carless. He couldn't believe they hadn't realized that there was someone in that mirror for thousands of years.

"So, because of the Gems, Lapis had to spend thousands of years in a prison. Because of their rebellion, an innocent woman had to suffer. And because of their mistake, Lapis was trapped and couldn't escape until I found her."

He glanced at the floor. It was no wonder that the blue-skinned woman hated the other Gems so much. Saying it all out loud only made it clear as to just how much pain she had gone through.

"Are you sure about that?"

He blinked. And then he glanced back to Mr. Araki. The man in the blue suit had on a rather curious expression. And he could see something slowly creeping into his eyes.

To him, it almost seemed like... Doubt.

"What do you mean?"

"May I ask how you knew Lapis was in there?"

"Well, she couldn't speak, but she could repeat images or words. Like, say she saw you laughing. She could record that image, and play it again at any time. Sound and all."

Mr. Araki's eyes narrowed.

"Steven...are you sure your guardians didn't know Ms. Lazuli was inside that mirror?"

His heart stopped.

The coldness from before returned. This time it was far more chilling than before.

He didn't... Did he just suggest...?

"What?"

His voice was incredibly quiet.

"I said, did your guardians truly not know that Ms. Lazuli was trapped there."

"OF COURSE NOT!"

He had stood on top of the bench. An anger unlike any he had felt before burned within him, blazing throughout every part of his body.

He couldn't believe Mr. Araki suggested that. The Gems would never do something like that. They would never hurt an innocent living person. They would never ignore someone's cries for help. They were good, no matter what kind of secrets they kept from him. Nothing would ever convince him otherwise.

And as he looked at Mr. Araki, he saw the man was not at all disturb by his rage. The businessman's face remained in the same frown, never looking away from his eyes despite the fact he knew they were more fearsome than they had ever been before.

The only noticeable change he saw was that Mr. Araki's lips twitched a little.

The blonde businessman in front of him seemed to be thinking about something, but about what he did not care. He didn't want to talk to him anymore. The Gems might have secrets, but they wouldn't-.

"Steven, you just said that Lapis had the power to communicate with others. Despite the fact she was imprisoned, she could properly let others know that she was no ordinary mirror, correct?"

"Yeah, so wha-!?"

He stopped talking.

And his eyes widened.

No...

"Which means that she could have easily talked to your guardians about what had happened to her."

No...

"She surely must have had some image she could replay for them. Some voice clip that would let them know what had happened to her."

That...that couldn't...

"She surely would have tried to tell your guardians what had happened to her...yet for some reason, she still remained trapped."

_You...You three knew and you didn't do anything!_

Her words from that night came crashing back like a tide. It submerged him as his body suddenly felt very numb.

"It's impossible to think that she didn't tell the Crystal Gems what had happened to her...and it's impossible to believe that your guardians didn't hear her cries."

_Did you ever wonder who I used to be!_

No,no,no,no,no,no!

They wouldn't...they'd never...

No!

"They would never do that!"

He shouted again...but this time he could hear something else in his voice. Something besides his vicious anger.

_I'm Lapis Lazuli, and you can't keep me trapped here anymore!_

...It was doubt.

"You really have that much faith in your guardians?"

"Of course I do! They're my family! After everything we've been through I know them! They love me and I love them back! They deserve my trust!"

"You don't sound so sure."

His breath hitched in his throat.

"It might be small, but I can still hear the doubt in your voice."

He once again saw Lapis with tears streaming down her face. He heard how sure she was that the Gems had willingly allowed her to suffer.

And he remembered their response.

_Guys...y-you wouldn't...you didn't trap her in that mirror, right?_

_Of course not Steven._

They didn't trap her. That they had assured him of. On that night, the Gems told him that they would never do something like that.

...But they never told him if they  _knew_ she was in there.

The doubt within him grew. It whispered into his ear with a sly grin. What if the Gems had known Lapis was there? What if they allowed her to suffer for so many years?

What if, they simply didn't care about her?

He felt fear consume him. Immense and cold fear that grew with every bead of sweat that fell down his face.

No, that...that couldn't be it.

"Can you really say from the bottom of your heart you can't picture your guardians doing something like that?"

...He didn't want to answer that.

"You don't know that Lapis could always communicate."

His voice was shaky.

"Couldn't she?"

"She doesn't remember everything about her time trapped in the mirror. Some of its blurry."

Every word that left his mouth was spoken as softly as possible. The shakiness of his voice carried into his words and he had trouble trying not to stutter.

"But when you found her, she could communicate through the mirror?"

"Yeah."

"And you think that on the day you found her, she just so happened to realize she had the power to replay images in order to communicate with others?"

It sounded ridiculous when Mr. Araki phrased it like that. It sounded so unlikely. When he really thought about, the chances of them not knowing decreased with each second.

To him...it was starting to become more and more likely the Gems had-.

No.

He wouldn't believe that.

They weren't like that.

They wouldn't ever consider leaving someone to go through such a fate. That would be the same as shattering them. And they wouldn't-.

_I watched the leader of the Crystal Gems, Rose Quartz, shatter Pink Diamond._

Stop it!

Fresh pain had entered his body. It stabbed at his heart and made his stomach twist. His thoughts became vile. They kept telling him that the Gems weren't what he thought they were. That the secrets they kept were far darker than he could ever imagine.

He could hear his doubt once again whispering into his ear.

Were the Gems really incapable of doing that?

"You don't know them."

He tried to make his voice sound firm. He tried to pour in as much confidence as he could into his words. He partially succeeded. His voice was louder and was no longer shaky, but he could not silence the doubt that still crawled within it.

He glanced to the floor.

"You have no idea what they're like. You can't judge people you haven't even met."

"You're right."

He glanced back towards Mr. Araki.

And he looked...different.

"It would be unreasonable to cast judgment on people I know nothing about."

It wasn't just that his warm smile had been replaced by a deep frown. But it was his posture. It was his face.

All of sudden, the man in front of him seemed so different.

He seemed..cold.

"But why don't you help me understand where you're coming from?"

The smile was back. And the chilling air that surrounded him was gone in an instant.

He must have been imagining things. His own doubt must have been clouding his senses.

"I think it would be best if you describe each of your guardians. That way, I know exactly who they are."

That was a simple request. He should have been fine talking about the other Gems.

But something stopped him. Something inside his mind begged him not to talk. Something from within his heart warned him that he should stop this conversation now.

But he couldn't stop now. Otherwise, Mr. Araki might end up thinking the worse about the Gems. He might think they were bad people.

But they weren't. He knew that for a fact.

He bubbled away the doubt within his heart. He pushed aside the pain slicing his body.

He needed this talk. To help him through his grief.

And to prove the Gems weren't like what Mr. Araki thought of them.

"Alright. Who should I talk about first?"

"May I suggest the...ivory one?"

"Oh, you mean Pearl. Tall, pink hair, Gem on her forehead?"

"Yes, her."

"Well, she's really graceful. She moves like a ballerina. She's always kind and loving, just like the other Gems. She's a bit of a perfectionist though."

"In what ways?"

"Sometimes she can be a bit...demanding. She can sometimes get a little carried away with things. Like she can nitpick over really small details."

"Does she ever criticize you?"

"Well, sometimes. But mostly she just criticizes..."

He trailed off. He thought about Pearl and everything she went through. Thought about all her flaws and how he was about to talk about them to a man she hadn't met.

"She criticizes what, Steven?"

"...Herself, mostly."

He needed to be open. He couldn't leave anything out. Just like Mr. Araki said.

"Could you explain that a little more?"

"Well... Pearl has some issues."

He rubbed the back of his neck.

"She...she thinks she has little to no self-worth as a person."

Mr. Araki raised an eyebrow.

"Go on..."

"She thinks that she's inferior to the other Gems. She thinks that she constantly needs to prove her worth."

"When did she first start developing such a mindset?"

"I think when she fought alongside my mom during the war. She...she would do anything for Rose. She'd thought the only way to prove her worth was to constantly risk her life to prove herself."

When Garnet told him that, he wasn't that surprised. He had known that Pearl always...idealized his mother. It wasn't hard for him to guess that she had gotten the idea that she had to be perfect from Rose. He knew that Pearl thought Rose was the epitome of what a person should be, whether they be Gem or human. She thought that she had to try and be as perfect as Rose was.

She thought she had to have no flaws like his mother.

Even though Rose Quartz wasn't perfect.

"Tell me more about Ms. Pearl's relationship with your mother."

Mr. Araki leaned a bit forward.

"Well, Pearl was with my mom since the beginning of the war. They had met on Homeworld, and Rose gave Pearl purpose. She inspired Pearl to fight and rebel against the people hurting earth. Ever since then she stayed with my mom."

"How did she do that?"

"Huh?"

"How did she inspire Ms. Pearl to fight?"

He paused.

And then blinked.

He actually had difficulty finding an answer for such an easy question.

They... Pearl had to have told him what Rose did to inspire her at some point. She always went on and on about Rose, so there was no way she could forget to leave out such an important detail.

Then he remembered something.

"Oh right! Back on Homeworld, Pearls aren't exactly viewed as a type of Gem. My mom was the only one who treated them like people. On Homeworld, their viewed more like-."

"Slaves?"

He once again paused.

He...wasn't sure if that was the right word. He had never heard Pearl once refer to herself as a former slave. And there would be no reason for the ivory Gem to keep that hidden from him. He always thought of Pearls to be more like servants. But "slaves" did seem to also fit how she and the other Gems had described Pearls in the past. Pearl did say that other Pearls were-.

Wait.

Now that he thought about it...what exactly had Pearl said about her race? The most she had ever said was that not every Pearl knew each other. The most any of the Gems had said was that Pearls weren't viewed kindly in the eyes of Homeworld. Pearl had never really explained anything about her race, even once.

Most of the information he had learned about her race was from...Peridot. And that was only because the green Gem had insulted Pearl when she was still trying to adjust to earth.

What exactly had the Gems told him about any of the many races that belonged to Homeworld?

"I... I guess you could say that."

When was the last time they told him anything about Homeworld?

He couldn't answer his own questions. Within his stomach, he could feel his doubt once again expand. A cold dread slowly embedded itself into his very heart. Because now that he thought about it, the Gems...they had never told him much about Homeworld.

The Gems seemed to be actively avoiding saying anything about Homeworld.

But...why?

"You still have yet to explain how your mother inspired Ms. Pearl to fight."

His dread became colder. It had begun to coil around his throat as it continued to grow.

He swallowed audibly.

"Wha-What?"

"How did your mother convince Pearl to fight against Homeworld?"

Mr. Araki's eyes narrowed.

"In fact, how exactly did your mother meet Ms. Pearl?"

He opened his mouth.

And promptly closed it.

"... You don't know do you?"

No. No, he did not.

She hadn't even told him that. He knew how Garnet met Rose. He knew that Amethyst joined after the war. But he did not know how Pearl had met the woman she idealized. Even though she went on and on about how great his mother was, she never once mentioned how they met.

"No."

His right hand gripped his pants leg. Why did she not even tell him something so simple? Why was it that she never talked about what she did before the war?

"I see..."

Mr. Araki's expression became contemplative. He could not tell what the blond businessman was thinking, but the way his unblinking eyes stared at him for some reason unsettled him. With just his gaze, the fear within him grew. It began to swallow his stomach as it slithered towards his mind.

He didn't think he would like what Mr. Araki was about to say.

"Tell me Steven, you said that Pearl has an inferiority complex, correct?"

"What's an inferiority complex?"

"It's the belief that you don't have any self-worth. That you constantly doubt yourself and believe you will never measure up to the standards of those around you."

"Oh, well in that case, yeah. Pearl's mostly gotten over it, but there are times when she still feels...less than useful."

Mr. Araki brought his hand underneath his chin.

"Has her issues ever caused you or your other guardian's trouble."

An image of the Communication Hub appeared in his mind.

And it was soon followed by Garnet glaring right at Pearl.

"Yeah."

He did not like remembering that night.

"I take it that whatever happened was not exactly pleasant."

That was an understatement.

"No, it wasn't. Do you know what fusion is?"

"Is that what you and Connie did when you faced off against those creatures from the sea and that orange woman? If my memory serves right, you two combine to form a whole new person. It was quite fascinating to watch."

"Yeah, that's it. Usually, it can only be done with other Gems, but since I'm half-human, I could fuse with Connie, a full-human."

He glanced to the side. He really didn't like talking about that day. He hated remembering how Garnet had become even more stoic than usual. Hated how fearful he had gotten whenever Pearl and Garnet were in the same room. How he was afraid they would start fighting at any moment.

"When Gems fuse, they're still inside the fusion. The people who made up the new person don't just fade away. Their always a part of the fusion."

"Sort of like  _Dragon Ball_."

Though Mr. Araki muttered those words, he could still hear them. He stopped talking as his eyebrows furrowed.

"What?"

"Nothing. Please continue."

Okay...

"The people who made up the fusion can feel everything the fusion does. They can feel the warmth flowing through their bodies. Feel the new powers that seem like they've always had them. They become connected to the other person. It's like you... _become_ the other person."

He was drawing on his own experiences and what the Gems had described to him when they fused. He could still remember the day he fused with Connie. It was on that day that he learned why Garnet always stayed fused.

Fusion was something special. It made him feel connected to Connie in ways he never thought were possible. It made him feel stronger than he had ever felt before.

...And that was the main reason why Pearl did what she did.

"Pearl loves fusing. She loves the feeling of power she gets when she fuses with someone. She loves the warmth that you get whenever you combine with another person. When she fuses, she's more powerful than she's ever been. She's a new being that has limitless possibilities. When she's a fusion she feel's... Strong."

He really did see why Pearl wanted to do what she did.

But still, it didn't make what she did any less...underhanded.

"And one of Pearl's more powerful fusions is a gem called Sardonyx."

"I hate to interrupt, but I'm rather curious as to what the fusion with you and Connie is called?"

"Oh, that would be Stevonnie."

"...Stevonnie?"

"You know. Steven and Connie together... Stevonnie."

"Ahh, I see."

Mr. Araki rubbed a finger underneath his chin.

"Please, let's get back to Pearl."

He let out a sigh.

This was going to stink.

"Pearl...really liked turning into Sardonyx. She liked it so much that she...tricked Garnet, the other Gem that made up Sardonyx, into fusing with her. And...she did it a couple of times."

He paused, and after a few seconds of silence, Mr. Araki spoke.

"I take it Ms. Garnet was not very happy when she found out she was being deceived."

No. No she was not.

The glare she gave Pearl once again flashed through his mind.

"Yeah. She was really angry at her. She felt...she didn't really tell me how exactly she felt, but I could see she was really broken up about it. She was hurt by how Pearl had...betrayed her."

He looked down.

Really, when he said it all out loud, it sounded a lot worse than he remembered. It sounded so awful when he summarized what had happened on that day. He had thought about what Pearl had done before, but hearing the words leave his lips only made him feel that her acts were...crueler than he had first realized.

"When you fuse, is it safe to say that the process is rather...intimate?"

"Yeah. You're experiencing a whole new set of feelings that belong to both you and the person your fusing with. Intimates really the best way to describe it."

"And is it safe to say that Ms. Pearl knew that Ms. Garnet would be rather cross with her should she learn that she was being tricked."

He saw there was something lying beneath Mr. Araki's words. Something that made him pause before answering; something that made his heart beat a little faster. He felt worry slowly twist his chest as he looked into the blonde businessman's eyes.

They were the same purple color as before. But for one moment, he thought he saw...something appear in them, if only for a moment.

"Ye-Yeah, she knew."

Mr. Araki paused for a moment.

"So let me see if I understand the situation correctly."

He adjusted his tie.

"Ms. Pearl manipulated Ms. Garnet. Someone who was her friend, someone who would have helped her through her inferiority issues if she had voiced them previously, for her own benefit. She constructed a false scenario just to get close to Ms. Garnet, to get her to fuse because Ms. Pearl knew she would never agree otherwise."

And he thought his words sounded bad.

He could feel himself wince the moment those words left Mr. Araki's mouth. His stomach filled with dread; A pain began to spread to every corner of his body. His breath hitched in his throat as he could not look away from Mr. Araki's gaze.

"She knew that Ms. Garnet would be mad at her for such an act, but ignored her feelings and proceeded to trick her dear friend without a care in the world."

His fear was now gripping his throat. It made him unable to tune out Mr. Araki's words. It forced him to listen to the blonde businessman even though he did not want to.

That...that wasn't...Mr. Araki didn't have...

"Ms. Pearl choose to trick Ms. Garnet simply because she wanted to feel better about herself."

No...that...he wasn't...

"You're not being fair!"

He wasn't shouting this time. The pain he felt rising within his body would not let him. But he did raise his voice, if only slightly.

"Pearl... Pearl might have done that, but you're making her sound like some kind of...bad guy."

Mr. Araki furrowed his brows.

"Was anything I said inaccurate?"

"No, but-."

"Then what is the problem?"

"You're making it sound like Pearl didn't feel bad about it! You're making it sound like she didn't feel guilty or sorry about what she had done!"

Yeah... Pearl felt bad about it. She might have tricked Garnet, but that was only because she felt like such a waste of space that she just wanted to feel strong. Even if it only lasted for a moment.

"Pearl made a mistake. We all do that. But she had reasons for doing what she did. She just wanted to stop feeling so down...she just wanted to feel strong."

His voice had lost a little of its firmness near the end, but he felt like he made his point. Pearl wasn't some jerk who would play with people's emotions. She was a part of his family.

She loved him. She made mistakes, but that didn't matter. She was his family.

"So you're saying it was perfectly okay for Ms. Pearl to do what she did simply because she "felt bad" about her actions?"

Mr. Araki narrowed his eyes.

"No. I'm saying that her actions were bad, but it wasn't like they weren't understandable. She just wanted to feel like she wasn't weak. And she realized her mistakes and learned from them. Like any person should do."

"Really? She's hasn't hurt someone because of her inferiority issues ever since then? Or hasn't done a similar act in the past?"

"No, she hasn-."

_Why won't you just let me do this for you Rose!_

Dang it!

He flinched. Badly.

Why...why did he have to think about...that.

"Steven?"

He knew his expression had become sullen. He could feel the weight of his misery on his face.

Dang it...why was his own brain betraying him? Why was it making him hear those awful words Pearl had said back then.

"Steven, has Pearl done something similar to what she did to Ms. Garnet before?"

He could not look up.

"...Yes."

"And I take it by your reaction that she hurt you in some way."

"Yeah."

It still hurt remembering that time.

"What happened?"

He let out a shaky sigh.

"Pearl... Pearl started to train Connie in sword fighting. Connie wanted to get stronger. She wanted to help me whenever I fight against a... Corrupted Gem or something like that."

He had never said the words "Corrupted Gem" with such anger before. He had never heard such disdain in his voice from just saying two words.

He let out a shaky breath before continuing.

"Pearl was a really good teacher. She taught Connie so much in months. Course, Connie was a really good student. She had gotten so good I thought she had been training for years."

Though there were some days when...

"But Pearl had also been teaching Connie...other things."

Some days when he wished...

"What do you mean by that, Steven?"

"... I mean Pearl...made Connie think she was nothing."

He glanced at the floor. He hated remembering how...how... eager Connie was to throw her life away without a second thought. It was why...he sometimes wished she had never agreed to become Pearl's disciple.

Because Pearl had turned his best friend into nothing more than a tool. It was like she enjoyed making people feel the same way she-.

No. Stop it. She was Pearl. The woman who raised him. He shouldn't think like that.

"How exactly did she do that, Steven?"

He let out another heavy sigh.

"She... She kept telling her that she was nothing more than my tool. She made her throw away her self-worth...for me."

"For you?"

Mr. Araki furrowed his brows.

"Why would she do that?"

"Because...because she thought that Connie...needed to throw her life away for me. She thought that Connie needed to think she was nothing but a weapon for me to use. She kept telling Connie that she had to be willing to sacrifice herself for me."

Disgust rose within his stomach. He could hear it slip into his voice as it festered and grew. He did not want to feel so revolted. He understood why Pearl did what she did...but he still couldn't believe the ivory Gem thought it was perfectly fine for her to teach his friend she was worthless. To teach her that her life wasn't important.

He glanced at the ground.

"She thought that Connie was like a miniature version of herself. She thought that it would be best for Connie to think she wasn't even a person..."

_"Why won't you just let me do this for you Rose!"_

Why couldn't he block out those words? Why did he have to keep hearing them?

His hands were in tight fists.

"She thought that me and Connie's relationship should be the same as what she had with my mom. Or at least, what she thought was the same relationship."

Calm down.

He...he wasn't thinking right. Pearl...Pearl messed up big time. There was no doubt about that. But she regretted it. It was a mistake.

But...It still hurt to think about that. It hurt how his friend had gained a lifeless look in her eyes.

And it hurt how she called him-.

"Steven was your mother's relationship with Ms. Pearl a good one?"

He raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah. Why do you ask?"

"Because, unless I'm misunderstanding you, your mother made Pearl feel like she was nothing."

He once again winced. He...was uncomfortable talking about Pearl and his mother's...Past.

"Well... Kinda. Rose made Pearl feel...good. When she was with my mom, Pearl was happy. Happier than she'd ever been before. My mom treated her as an equal. As someone she respected. As someone who she valued as a...friend."

Though, from how Pearl had described Rose, it sounded like they were something...more.

"Pearl had never experienced kindness like that before. So she thought that the only way to pay my mom back would be to act as her weapon. She wanted to help my mom even if meant her destruction."

"And she taught such a philosophy to Ms. Connie."

He paused for a moment.

"Yeah."

"Steven, it sounds like Ms. Pearl projected herself quite a bit onto Ms. Connie."

"She did."

"And did she perhaps do something similar to you?"

He twitched.

"Steven?"

He...he couldn't hold anything back. He needed to be open.

No matter what.

"Yeah. She has."

"What exactly has she done to you?"

He glanced at the bench. He wanted to do nothing but stare at the blue planks of wood. He did not want to have to talk.

But Mr. Araki assured him that this would help.

"She... She sometimes..."

He bit his lower lip.

"She sometimes... Calls me Rose."

Mr. Araki did not respond immediately. Instead, the blonde businessman just stared at him with his purple eyes. His expression was...different. To him it was emotionless. Completely blank as he continued to look at him without saying a word. Mr. Araki looked so different than before. When exactly had his expression changed so much?

"She calls you by your mother's name?"

"Yes."

"How often does she do that?"

"Not that often anymore."

"But she has called you by your mother's name in the past?"

"...Yes."

"So before, is it safe to say she called you by her mother's name more than your own?"

"No. She didn't call me "Rose" that much in the past."

But sometimes it felt like she did.

"So, she taught Ms. Connie to get rid of her self-esteem because she thought that was what your friend wanted."

His eyes narrowed.

"And she also taught her such a mindset because she thought Connie was a younger version of herself."

He looked right into his purple pupils. And there was something there. Something he couldn't identify.

"And she thought that you were Rose Quartz. Except, she seemed to literally believe you were her."

His eyebrows furrowed together. The blond businessman looked towards his stomach.

"And only a short time after this event, she also manipulated Ms. Garnet?"

He slowly nodded his head. He did not want to speak.

"So, what you are telling me is that after essentially turning your best friend into a mindless slave, she also emotionally manipulated her close friend?"

A new pain rose within him. He could feel it slowly constricting the rest of his body. It was even colder than before.

"Even though she did something similar to Ms. Connie, she proceeded to do the same thing again. She constantly does what she thinks is the best or what she wants. Never considering other people's feelings."

No. That wasn't right. She wasn't like that.

Yet... why did he feel so much pain in his chest with each word that left Mr. Araki's lips?

"It's as though she doesn't care about their feelings."

That wasn't right! She did care. He knew that. She had to. She wasn't like what Mr. Araki was saying.

Yet, even though he knew that wasn't true, he could feel doubt crawling within his chest.

"Tha-That's not right."

Why did his voice sound so weak to him? Why was there barely any confidence in his words?

"She... She just made a mistake. People make mistakes. No one's perfect."

"So you're saying we should praise Ms. Pearl for her mistakes? Praise her for emotionally manipulating her close friend as well as your best friend?"

"No I-...that's not..."

His words were failing him. He could barely get out a sentence without stuttering.

But he needed to. Pearl... Pearl was kind, nice, loving. She wasn't manipulative.

"You're twisting my words!"

He once again hardened his voice. There were no traces of his earlier stuttering.

"Steven, you seem to be misunderstanding something."

Mr. Araki's expression changed in an instant. The warm kindness from before had returned. Another smile that radiated with care crossed his lips. He could see the benevolence glowing from within his purple eyes as they stared into his own.

He found himself scooting backward on the bench. But he did not know why.

"I am not trying to make your guardians sound like cruel people. I am simply interpreting what you have said about them as best as I can. If you believe I am wrong, then by all means, tell me so."

His smile began to turn into a small frown. The benevolence slowly disappeared from his expression.

"But you also must understand that what you have said so far has been... troubling, to put it lightly. I hope you can see why exactly I would be drawn to some rather uncomfortable conclusions after what you've been telling me."

He glanced at the bench. He did not want to admit it...but Mr. Araki had a point. When he replayed everything he had just told him, it did sound kinda cruel. Like Pearl was some kind of manipulator. Like the Gems had in fact chosen to keep Lapis trapped in a mirror.

But...but Pearl wasn't mean. And the other Gems would never keep someone trapped like that for so long.

"I'm sorry. I... I didn't mean to snap at you."

"It's perfectly alright Steven. But why don't we get back on track?"

"Okay."

"Now then, let's take a step back. Can you please go into a bit more depth of Ms. Pearl's relationship with your mother?"

He raised a brow. He thought he had already explained Pearl and his mom's past.

"Well, like I said, Pearl really idealized my mom. She spent hundreds of years fighting by her side."

Mr. Araki raised a brow.

"Are you sure "idealized" is the right word to use?"

He suddenly coudln't keep eye contact with Mr. Araki as he glanced at the bench.

"Ye-yeah. I mean, she basically...worshiped her. She would do anything for Rose if she asked her to."

"Yes, but, do you think there was something...more, to their relationship."

He glanced to the side. Why... Why did he suddenly want to stop talking? It was a simple question, and it had an equally simple answer.

Yet... He found his mouth clamp shut.

"Steven?"

"I... I'm not sure what you mean."

Mr. Araki furrowed his eyebrows.

"I think you do, Steven."

Mr. Araki moved a little closer to him. He wanted to move away, but he found his body locked in place.

"Tell me, Steven..."

Why did he feel so much fear right now? Why did his mouth feel so dry?

His blood felt as cold as ice as Mr. Araki spoke.

"Did Ms. Pearl love your mother?"

...He really should have expected this question. But his breath was taken away the moments those words left Mr. Araki's lips.

Rose Quartz and love were two things that seemed to go hand in hand. Garnet and Amethyst loved her from like they had all been one big family. His dad loved her from the bottom of his heart and just wanted to spend the rest of his life with her.

But for Pearl...her love was different. It seemed almost like an...obsession.

"...Do you mean if she loved her as more than just a friend."

"Yes."

He was about to reveal one of his guardians most precious secrets. Something that she had tried to hide for years. Something she had never once even bothered talking to him about.

Not that it mattered. He had always known whenever she talked about her fallen leader. The way she smiled. The way her eyes would light up. The way she cried.

It was obvious.

"...Yeah. Pearl loved Rose Quartz."

It felt...strange to admit that out loud. The pain within him had stopped growing for a moment. The coldness that had surrounded his body faded slightly.

Why did saying that make him feel better? It was the same when he admitted the Gems kept secret. His pain and the coldness gripping his body had decreased than as well. But why?

"She loved her very deeply I take it."

"Yeah, she did."

"So much so that she confused your relationship with Connie to her own? Thus leading to her teaching Connie such a harmful philosophy?"

"Yeah."

He often wondered what his mother's response was to Pearl's self-sacrificing nature. Did she try to convince Pearl to abandon such a mindset? Surely she must have noticed. There was no way she couldn't have. Pearl had a  _song_  memorized about her devotion to Rose Quartz.

But what if she did notice and just...didn't care? What if she allowed Pearl to develop such a mindset because it was beneficial to her?

Because that way she'd always have a pawn she-.

What the heck was he thinking? Those...those thoughts weren't his own. They were far darker than any ideas he had ever had about his mom. He had thought she might have shattered Pink Diamond, but he never thought she'd ever been so cruel to her friends. He had never once considered she would do something almost equally horrible to her family.

And now he couldn't get rid of those ideas. Rose Quartz kept secrets... But would she do something so cruel to someone who loved her?

"So, before she had you, she was in a...heated, relationship with Ms. Pearl."

He did not know exactly what Araki meant by "heated..."but he had a rather good guess.

"Not really. Pearl loved Rose, but Rose...I'm not sure she ever felt the same."

It was a bit troubling to say this out loud. He thought that Pearl would appear at any moment and be shocked to hear him tell someone all of these precious secrets.

But he was being paranoid. And he needed to tell Mr. Araki everything.

"Did Ms. Pearl ever tell your mother how she felt?"

He did not know. Pearl had never told him that.

He felt his eyes narrow slightly. But he shook his head as he let out a sigh.

"I don't know. She never told me if she did. But I don't think she would have confessed her feelings. She's kinda...private about that stuff."

Mr. Araki seemed to take a moment to think.

"Do you think your mother knew how Ms. Pearl felt?"

He blinked.

Did she know? She had been with Pearl for years. Pearl had fought alongside her in the war. She was always by Rose's side.

And they had fused.

Could Rose really have not  _felt_ Pearl's love whenever they turned into Rainbow Quartz? Did she not see how much Pearl enjoyed fusing with her? And even without fusing, she should have noticed.

If he could notice, someone who would freely admit was bad at reading people, then surely she would have noticed.

Unless she didn't care.

"I-I don't think she did."

He had to stop thinking like that. After everything, the Gems told him about his mom-

_I saw the leader of the Crystal Gems Ro-_

Stop it! Stop thinking about that. Stop remembering the things the Rubies told him. That stuff didn't matter.

He was shaking slightly.

"So, her love went unrequited."

"Ye-Yeah."

"Steven, may I ask if Ms. Pearl's love for Rose has ever caused you any other problems."

An image of his dad appeared in front of him.

And it was quickly followed by an image of Pearl in a suit singing on a balcony.

"Yeah, it has."

He had only recently noticed, but before Pearl and his Dad had gone with him to Empire City, their relationship was...strained, to put it lightly. It was only now that he realized the bitterness Pearl had about his dad marrying her leader. That she was still angry at the fact that Rose had chosen him and not her.

And that resentment had led to them not really talking to each other for years to come.

"She wasn't exactly on the best terms with my dad because of it."

"I can imagine."

"She was bitter that Rose had fallen in love with my dad instead of her. She was-."

"Jealous?"

"Yeah."

"Did Ms. Pearl ever fight with your father?"

"I don't think so. At least, not in front of me."

"Does Ms. Pearl still resent your father?"

"No."

They had worked through their differences. He had seen how relieved their faces were as they drove back to Beach City. They were happy that they had finally gotten over their issues.

That he knew for a fact.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm positive."

He saw Mr. Araki raise an eyebrow.

He did not like that.

"Wha-What is it?"

"It's just, after everything you've told me, I hope you'll forgive me, but I found it a little hard to believe Ms. Pearl is no longer in love with your mother."

He felt cold again.

"Well, she is."

His voice suddenly rose with anger. What Mr. Araki said shouldn't have made him feel so annoyed, but for some reason, it did. Even he knew he was being kinda defensive about a simple statement.

"Well, if she is, then why did she confuse you for your own mother?"

That question made his breathing come to a stop.

"That does not sound like someone who has moved on."

"I told you she hasn't done that in a while!"

He raised his voice. He wasn't quite shouting, but he was very close to doing so. The anger in his voice had grown. He could hear it burn within his words. Could feel it blaze throughout his body. He knew that he was slowly losing his control. He knew that he getting angry would not solve anything.

But right now he did not care.

Mr. Araki's words brought up memories he hated. Of the times Pearl had accidentally called him "Rose." Of the longing looks that she had on whenever she went on about how much of an amazing leader she was. Of the sadness that would always end up swirling in her expression when she finished speaking about how the person she loved was gone.

And every time this happened, he had always felt guilt swallow his stomach. There would always be a toxic feeling in his heart whenever Pearl went on and on about Rose. His misery would grip at his throat, and he would instantly be reminded that he wasn't the legendary leader of the Crystal Gems.

And Pearl never even seemed to consider that one simple fact.

"So you honestly believe she is completely over your mother."

Why did he keep asking him the same question?! The answer wouldn't change! If Pearl said she wasn't in love with his mom, then she-.

Another image appeared in his mind.

And this one made all his anger fade away into nothing. And it made his eyes widen.

He saw a girl. A girl whose name he did not know. A girl Pearl had shown an interest in dating.

A girl who shared similarities to Rose.

If she wasn't still in love with his mom...why was it that she went after someone who looked so similar?

"By your expression, it looks like you've realized something."

She said she was ready to move on. He had believed that she was being honest. Pearl said it wasn't because of the pink haired girl's looks that she was interested in her.

But then why was she interested in the mysterious biker? What exactly did Pearl see in her?

Well, it was obvious, wasn't it?

She saw the same thing in her that she saw in him.

Rose Quartz.

"No."

His voice was as quiet as a whisper.

She told him she was over his mom. He had seen her and his dad work out their issues.

"Steven?"

"She... She wouldn't do that... She wouldn't-."

She wouldn't what? Lie to him? By now he should have realized that Pearl was an expert at lying to him. At keeping secrets from him.

His hands gripped his pants.

"Steven, what did Ms. Pearl do?"

Mr. Araki somehow made him speak. Even though he wanted to just be silent, the businessman's words almost forced his mouth to open. There was something inside his voice that made him feel the need to speak.

"Pearl... Pearl started liking a human...a human that looked almost exactly like my mom."

Mr. Araki did not respond. Instead, his purple eyes looked towards his hands that were currently gripping his pants in a death grip.

"I take it you can see the problem with this?"

"Yeah."

He never really considered just how suspicious it was for Pearl to suddenly take an interested in a human. He had pointed it out before, and even Amethyst had agreed with him, but Pearl assured them that was not it.

But then, why on earth did she suddenly find the mystery girl so attractive?

He couldn't figure out the answer.

"Steven, may I give you my opinion as to why Ms. Pearl likes another human?"

Mr. Araki's calm voice brought him out of his thoughts.

"I... sure."

Yeah, that sounded fine. He could sort out all his confusing thoughts if he had someone else's perspective on his guardian. Mr. Araki was a smart man, and he had told him a lot about Pearl. He should be able to figure out her reason easily.

"Thank you."

He adjusted his tie.

"I believe the reason why Ms. Pearl likes this human is because..."

Mr. Araki paused. He thought there was hesitance in the man's expression. But why-?

"Is because she is not a good person."

...What?

"And frankly, I believe that she isn't fit to raise you."

That... He couldn't have heard that. There was no way Mr. Araki actually said that.

"I'm sorry Steven, I am just telling you what I honestly believe."

"What?!"

This time he was shouting.

"I-I can't...why would you say that?!"

He could hear his voice cracking. Could hear the raw emotion within it. He had never once heard his own words sound so confused and angry in his life. The pain inside him had grown worse. Colder. The bewilderment and fear in his stomach had begun to mix and spread throughout his body. It left a nauseous taste in his mouth. Like he was about to vomit.

"Steven... Ask yourself this."

Mr. Araki narrowed his eyes. His purple pupils to him looked almost...menacing.

"Do you think Pearl is a good person?"

The coldness within him choked his throat.

"What?"

"You heard what I said, Steven. Do you think from the bottom of your heart that Pearl is someone you would consider a good person?"

"Of course!"

"Really? Because to me, I just see the same selfish woman who has hurt her family over and over again."

Those words slammed into his gut. He could feel all of his breath being sucked away. He had never heard anyone speak about Pearl like that. Never once had anyone ever called her "selfish." Jasper and Peridot only called her names and insults because she was a Pearl. In their eyes, she was inferior.

But Mr. Araki didn't say these words based on his prejudices. He just genuinely did not seem to like Pearl. Which shocked him, since the man across from him was so kind and caring.

But now he was different. Now, to him, there was something off about Mr. Araki.

"How can you say that?!"

But he didn't care. Right now, someone he loved was getting insulted. Pearl was about as far from selfish as possible.

"She isn't selfish! She's one of the kindest people I've ever met! She's always there for me! She loves-."

"Then why is it she always projects her issues onto you."

He stopped talking.

Mr. Araki's words brought up memories. Very unpleasant memories. Times when Pearl had called him Rose. Instances where she would sometimes look at his stomach instead of his face.

And that one time...she glared at him.

Right before he fell down and almost plummeted to his death. He suddenly began to relive that falling sensation. It was like he could not control any part of his body. Like all he could do was fall down and down. All he could do was wait for his fall to end.

"Let us go over some of the things you have told me about Pearl. Due to her inferiority complex, she has constantly projected her guilt and anguish onto other people. You seem to be the most common target.

"That's-."

"And because of this mindset, she has hurt people. Some of them were your friends and others your family. All so she could feel better about herself or relive a happier moment in her life."

"I-I don't... That's not-."

"Before you told me how she was over her complex now. Yet the evidence you have shown me here begs to differ. If she were truly over it, then why is she now currently interested in a human?"

"I... I... Well-"

"The only reason I can see is that she wants to be loved by someone she knows is inferior to her. Someone who is weaker to her both physically and emotionally. She wants to be the one in power now."

"You don't-."

"And as an added bonus, she gets to have her love with someone who is an almost perfect replica of your mother. She now has the opportunity to relive the love she was denied all those years-."

"SHUT UP!"

Something snapped.

He was standing on top of the bench. He had moved in an instant. Both hands were now grabbing Mr. Araki's suit and brought the taller man down to his level. The business man's face was now only inches away from his.

He saw that his eyes were noticeably duller than before. Any traces warmth and kindness were gone.

But he didn't really care about that.

Right now all he knew was anger.

"You're wrong!"

He was snarling. Something he had never once done in his life. Something he always seen other people do. Something he never thought himself capable of doing before.

But now here he was.

Jasper was the most common person to snarl and growl in front of him. She was incredibly intimidating whenever she even glared at someone. So her snarls only made her all the more terrifying.

And right now he felt like his snarl could rival her's.

No, wait, that wasn't right.

For right now, his roar was even scarier than hers.

"You...you...jerk! Pearl is the kindest most respectable person I know! She constantly battle's creatures from her world to save people's lives! She always stands up whenever the going gets tough! She's grown and moved past issues a lot of people could never do!"

Rage. That was the only word to describe what he was feeling right now. He could feel it ignite from the bottom of his soul. Could feel it light up his body in violent flames. Right now he wanted to see the man across from him regret ever saying such horrible things

And had yet to even bat an eye. He almost looked bored. His eyes were half open and they just stared into his own pupils. He could not tell what the man was thinking. And that only made his fury even worse. He wanted to see this man at the very least acknowledge-.

"If she's grown as a person, then why does she keep repeating the same mistakes?"

Those words were spoken in a calm voice. It was eerily quiet. For some reason, it unsettled him.

But it was only for a moment.

For his rage once again exploded within him.

"She doesn't!"

His grip got tighter.

Mr. Araki still didn't blink.

"You've just told me that after manipulating Ms. Connie, she manipulated her close friend just so she could feel better about herself."

"That's only twice! She's only made mistakes like that twice!"

"The fact that's its happened twice is far from a good thing, Steven."

He let out another growl. This one sounded like it belonged to Lion.

"That still doesn't mean she isn't learning from her mistakes! Her fears and doubts aren't just gonna disappear within months! It takes time!"

"And in that time it's perfectly okay for her to get away with actions? That it's okay for her to make similar mistakes down the road? Mistakes that could hurt you, but so long as she learns from them, that makes it fine? Even though she has had years to sort out these issues with her teammates and is only now doing something about it?"

He had never wanted someone to shut their mouth so badly before. He had never wanted so badly for one man to stop talking.

Never once did he think he'd ever have to punch a human and not a Gem.

"At least she's trying to become a better person! At least she knows she made mistakes! She doesn't want to keep hurting her family! She knows she messed up and-!"

"Tell me Steven has she ever once apologized for shoving her doubts and insecurities into your family and friends' faces?"

The man had interrupted him.

That no good lousy-!

"Of course she's apologized! She said she was sorry to Garnet after the whole fusion fiasco! She apologized to Amethyst for making her feel like dirt! She-."

"What about you?"

He looked at the man. The man who still had yet to blink. The man who still had yet to raise his voice. The blonde businessman who still had not even one sign of fear or anger in his expression.

There was just nothing. Almost like the man wasn't feeling anything at the moment.

That... disturbed him more than he cared to admit.

"What?"

Purple eyes narrowed to slits. He only now noticed just how icy his pupils were. How the man who they belonged to now looked...dangerous.

"I said, has she ever apologized to you for making you feel like it's your fault your mother is gone?"

Those words made him loosen his hold on Mr. Araki.

Regret began to flood his body. He could feel his anger fighting to remain in his body. Could feel the flames try to withstand the storm of his guilt.

But it was a losing battle.

Sorrow swirled within him. It was cold; like an iceberg had just settled into his stomach. He could feel it bite into his very soul.

"What?"

There wasn't even an ember of the fury that once raged within him left in his voice. Because any anger left in his body had just been swept away by misery.

"I... I never said I felt like that."

Mr. Araki's eyes seemed to soften. He wouldn't have noticed usually, but since they were so close it was impossible to miss.

"You didn't have to. It's obvious how Pearl has made you feel Steven."

He wanted to deny that. He wanted to scream at the man and tell him how wrong he was.

But he couldn't.

For he felt all of his strength leave him.

"She calls you Rose. She constantly makes you feel miserable by reminiscing about times when your mother was alive. She knows that you didn't ask to be born, yet she still blames you, doesn't she?"

He remembered the glare she gave him when he just wanted to find out why she was bothered by Lion having Rose's scabbard.

She didn't even have to say anything. The glare made her message as clear as day.

Her problem was that he existed.

Sure, she loved him. Sure she kept praising him constantly. She always insisted that his mother would be proud of him.

But he did not miss how she still sent longing looks to the painting in the Beach House. Even though she said, in her own words, she was over Rose.

"She still hasn't even considered how you feel. How it must be agonizing for someone to help the person who is supposed to take care of them. She says she's over her issues yet, in reality, someone else always has to help her through it. Even if that someone feels nothing but sorrow because said issues always leave a hole in his heart."

So many times did he feel pain whenever Pearl talked about Rose. It was like a stab to his heart. To him, it was clear as day that Pearl desperately wished Rose was still there. He always wanted to help people in need. And when he helped Pearl with things like her inferiority problems, he saw that her issues always seemed to come back to Rose Quartz. And because of that, whenever he tried to help her he was constantly reminded about Rose Quartz and how she was no longer in this world.

Because of him.

"And she doesn't even realize how much she hurts you."

He let go of Mr. Araki.

He tried to ignore his feelings. He tried to be strong for Pearl. To be there for her when she needed help. But... it was hard. Really hard. Hearing her talk about Rose in vague details. Listening to her tell him how she was the epitome of a leader. It always made him feel awful. Even though he wanted to know more, he didn't ask because he knew he would only get more vague answers.

And also because he was scared those answers might make him realize just how inadequate he truly was. Even when she was vague, Pearl always made it sound like Rose was someone he could never be.

And she never seemed to notice how much her words stung him. Somehow, she was blind to his turmoil. She never noticed how he felt about his own mother.

She always seemed to be focused on just...her problems.

"Tell me, have you ever once told her how you feel whenever she goes on and on about Rose?"

It took him a moment to find the answer to that.

"No."

Maybe that was why she never noticed. Because he had yet to open up? Yeah, that would-.

"Steven, are you thinking that Pearl not realizing your distress is somehow your fault?"

...How did he know that?

He found himself unable to look up.

"This is not your fault. It is not right to think that just because Pearl has not noticed your obvious turmoil it is somehow your fault. As your guardian, she should see when one of her own family members is distressed."

Mr. Araki could tell what he was thinking. A man he had barely known was able to easily figure out what he was feeling.

So...why couldn't Pearl? Because she really didn't focus on anything but her own issues? Because she was still not over the death of Rose, even when it happened so many years ago? Because she didn't care?

Because she wasn't a good person?

"She...She's saved Beach City. She's saved the world."

He had to be wrong. There was no way she could be a selfish person.

But...why couldn't he stop thinking about all the times she had hurt his friends and family. About the times she made him feel like he was...

Inferior.

...Like her.

Could... Could she have done that on purpose?

"How can someone who saves the world be a bad person?"

That sounded impossible. How could someone who risked their life to save so many people possibly be bad? Especially someone like Pearl. Someone who had saved his own life so many times.

"You'd be surprised. There a plenty of people throughout history who have arguably saved the world. But some of them are as far from 'good people' as imaginable."

He looked up.

Mr. Araki wasn't looking at him. Instead, he seemed to be looking straight ahead.

"Just because people do something most would consider 'just' or 'kind' does not mean the motivation for doing so is the same. There are plenty of selfish people who would do good if it meant their lives would improve."

He felt like Mr. Araki was directing his words at Pearl. He did not say anything in response.

It confused him greatly. If bad people did good things, then didn't that mean they had some good in them? He had met people before who started off as bad but they had changed.

Centi and... Peridot came to his mind.

One was a corrupted Gem and the other was a mechanic from the world that wanted to destroy the Crystal Gems. They hadn't done a single good thing since he met them, but slowly, he was able to understand them. He had learned about their past. He learned what they cared about. He learned that they weren't the bad people the Gems seemed to think they were.

Which now that he thought about, they seemed to do a lot.

Pearl more so than the others.

He felt cold again.

The...the point was that even bad people could be good. He had managed to turn enemies into allies. He had been able to convince an angry green Gem to become a protector of the world. He had reunited a lost soldier back with the only friends left on this planet.

So surely if a bad person had done some good in the past, then they to should be able to become a good person. Right?

"Pearl might save the planet, but tell me Steven, after reviewing every deed she's done in your mind, do you think she's not selfish?"

He wanted to deny that. He was screaming at himself to say just one word. This was Pearl. She...she wasn't bad. She wasn't selfish.

But memories flashed through his mind. All the times Pearl hurt him when she called him "Rose." The times when she manipulated Connie and Garnet. The times when she stared into that painting of Rose on the wall.

He felt his heart twist. His body had become colder.

And no words left his lips.

"I believe the reason why you haven't told Pearl about who your feeling is because you don't feel like she would be able to understand your issues. That her own inferiority problems and love of Rose blind her from being able to help you."

He...he didn't want to believe that was the reason. But...a part of him...a part whose voice was slowly getting louder, couldn't help but agree.

He suddenly felt scared.

"Do... Do you really think Pearl's a bad person?"

"After seeing the damage she has done, I can't help but say yes."

He shouldn't even be listening to Mr. Araki right now. He should be furious. He should be defending Pearl, the woman who raised and loved him.

But he wasn't.

More images appeared in his mind. Some were of Pearl as she trained Connie. Others were of her smiling as she told him he was getting better with his shield and that one day he'd be as good as his mother.

And once again he saw her on that beach the night Lapis was set free.

_We would never do something like that Steven._

...He had never noticed before how Pearl's eyes glanced to the side as she said that. And how there was some kind of emotion within her expression, but what exactly it was he could not tell.

And that unknown emotion worried him. He could feel his anxiety flood his body. It felt like he could barely breathe.

"I think you should tell me about your other guardians now. Hopefully, they haven't done anything like Pearl has done in the past."

Mr. Araki had moved so that his back was now leaning against the arm of the bench.

"I... Sure."

There would be no point in trying to deny him.

And besides, there was no way they were-.

"Would you mind talking about the...short one with the purple skin."

Mr. Araki's words brought him out of his thoughts. That was good. He...He could sort them out later.

"Amethyst?"

"Yes."

"Well, she's different from the other Gems. She wasn't born on Homeworld, but here on earth."

"And how exactly was she born?"

"Well, during the war, Homeworld sent these...machines to Earth to create Gems. They inject the core components of a Gem into the ground and then it sucks out all the life around it. And after enough time has passed and enough nutrients are absorbed, a Gem pops out of the ground."

He had only learned this after Amethyst showed him the Kindergarten. Pearl had explained to him what exactly it was.

But he did not miss how much she hated having to talk about that place. He thought it was because that the Kindergarten brought up bad memories.

But now it was more likely because she was essentially forced to tell him something for once. That was one secret she couldn't keep hidden any longer.

He felt his doubts once again slithering within his stomach.

"She...she joined the Crystal Gems after they found her in this place called the Kindergarten. It's where a lot of Gems like her were born. She came out later than the others so she was the only one there."

"Do you know what happened to the other Gems who were also born there?"

"I... I think they died in the Gem War."

"You think?"

"... Pearl and Garnet never told me what happened to other Gems that were there. But I think that's what most likely happened."

He had thought about the Kindergarten and the Gems that once lived there before. He imagined what had happened to them during the fight against the Crystal Gems.

Sometimes he imagined Rose Quartz...shattering one of them.

He tried not to. He tried to tell himself that Rose wouldn't do it. That Pearl and Garnet wouldn't let her.

But recently, ever since he learned about Pink Diamond, he was having trouble believing Rose hadn't only shattered one of the tyrants from Homeworld.

He hated himself for thinking such thoughts, but the doubt engulfing his mind would not allow him to throw out these ideas.

"So, what exactly is Ms. Amethyst like?"

"She's...funny. Always telling jokes even when stuff gets serious. And she almost always says whatever's on her mind."

"Would you say Ms. Amethyst is impulsive?"

"Yeah. In some ways anyway."

"Could you give me an example?"

"One time she ate a bunch of chum we happened to find near the docks. When I asked her why she said she wanted to see if 'there was a reason why all fish like this crud.' She said it wasn't bad."

He expected maybe a small chuckle. Or perhaps a raised eyebrow at the purple Gem's antics.

The emotionless expression Mr. Araki had on was a reaction he hadn't expected. He once again felt uncomfortable under the man's gaze.

"That's rather... Colorful."

He let out a tiny cough.

"Yeah, she is. But most of the time when she acts crazy, it's just too..."

He paused.

He once again thought about what he was about to say. Revealing another of his guardian's secrets to someone outside of their family. But this time he found himself more willing to talk then when he told Mr. Araki about Pearl's secrets.

"It's to distract herself from...hating herself."

Mr. Araki raised a brow.

And for some reason that...bothered him.

"And why does she hate herself?"

"Because she feels like she was...a mistake."

He took in a breath.

"She feels like she was born weaker than other Gems because she stayed underground too long. She's always thought that she wasn't as good as Garnet or Pearl."

It didn't exactly help that Pearl had only recently realized just how damaged Amethyst was. And it only took her a few centuries to see. Was that how long it would take for her to realize his own issues?

He could once again feel how resentful his thoughts were. But this time, he found himself a lot less willing to stop them.

"So, two of your family members have inferiority complexes?"

"Well...kinda, I guess."

He couldn't focus on those thoughts. They were talking about Amethyst, not Pearl.

"She's gotten over it though."

"Didn't you say the same thing about Pearl?"

He flinched at those blunt words.

"Yeah. But, this time I'm positive."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because we fused."

Fusion. The experience that let him get to know Amethyst in ways he never thought possible. When they had turned into Smokey Quartz, he could feel all her pain. He could feel all the hatred she directed at herself. The isolation she always felt was cold enough to make him shiver, even though at the time he technically didn't have a body.

And when they had fused, he could feel her sadness, her anger, and her misery fade away.

"Like I said, fusion allows you to feel what the other person's feeling. And I could feel her doubts and self-loathing die down when we fused into Smokey Quartz. That's our fusion name."

"So, you didn't feel even an ounce of her insecurities left in her after you fused?"

He paused.

He thought back to when the moment he had fused with Amethyst. When they had turned into Smokey Quartz, he did feel her hatred for herself fade. He had felt how happy she was that he was there for her. That he would always be there for her. Becuase, in her words, worse Gems stick together.

But...he had felt something else. And what he felt was toxic. While the feeling was small, it was still there. He could feel it grip his throat. His vision had blurred and faded to black. It was only for a moment, but he felt something awful while fused with Smokey Quartz.

He hadn't really thought about what exactly it was he had felt until now.

"Well...maybe she's not completely over it."

Now he realized what he had felt were Amethyst's lingering insecurities. His words had helped, his actions had shown just how much he loved her, but her self-hatred was still there.

"So, Ms. Amethyst still continues to hate herself?"

"Yeah. But, not nearly as much as before. Now she has a lot more confidence in herself."

"But what about before she had gained more confidence? Did her self-loathing ever cause her to hurt you or your family like Pearl did?"

He remembered when she and his Dad were watching reruns of their favorite show.

And then he saw her shapeshifting into...

"Yeah, she has."

He could hear how quiet his voice had gotten. He never liked to think about that moment.

"What did she do?"

"She..."

He could almost see himself back in his dad's garage as he watched her transform.

"She turned into my mom."

Mr. Araki did not respond. He just stared at him with his purple eyes. And he saw the blond businessman's lip twitch. As if he wanted to frown, but seemed to be holding himself back.

"She turned into your dead mother?"

Just hearing it being said by another person made him wince.

"Yeah."

"...I'm sure I don't have to tell you how this makes Amethyst look, do I?"

He didn't have to. It was obvious how his words would paint Amethyst as someone who was selfish.

As someone who was a bad person.

"It...It sounds bad I know-."

"It doesn't just sound bad, it is bad."

He winced again. His eyes glanced at the floor.

"Why did she turn into your dead mother?"

"Because...she wanted to...get my dad to stay with her."

He did not hear the whole situation, but that seemed to be the reason. Neither his Dad or Amethyst ever told him the exact circumstances that led her to turn into Rose.

"To stay with him?"

"Yeah. She and my dad, they had started to hang out again. They hadn't really done that since Rose died."

Huh. Did he ever really admit that Rose was dead out loud before? He couldn't really think of a moment where he did. In fact, had any of the Gems ever said she was dead?

He let out a sigh.

"She didn't really have anyone to talk to back then. So when she and my Dad reconnected, she was scared it might end and she'd be alone again."

He could see Amethyst in his mind.

And then he saw her shapeshifting into Rose.

Before, when he thought about that moment, he only felt pain in his heart as he saw Amethyst with his mother's face. It became so much worse when he realized that seeing Amethyst turning into his mom would be the only time he would ever get to meet Rose Quartz in real life.

But this was the first time he felt...disgusted when remembering that day. He never felt so sick before when he remembered Rose's face and saw his Dad covering his ears and shutting his eyes.

And it was the first time in his life that he ever felt such revulsion directed towards Amethyst.

He bubbled those thoughts away.

He...he needed to continue.

"She and my dad hung out for days. They didn't even notice how much time passed. When my dad finally decided to leave and go back home, Amethyst wouldn't let him. So...so she turned into Rose."

He had heard her as he crawled through the heaps of assorted garbage his dad kept in his garage. At that point, he had never heard her sound so...cruel to anyone before. Now, he had heard her use the same tone on people like Jasper.

And to think she had treated his Dad like that. Like he was an enemy. Like he was the one at fault just because he wanted to leave and go return to his family.

It made him...angry.

"How exactly does this relate to her self-loathing issues?"

He looked up.

Purple eyes seemed to be drilling holes into him.

He swallowed.

"What?"

"While this event is horrible, I fail to see how exactly this relates to her hatred for herself."

Something seemed...wrong. He couldn't explain it, but there was something off about Mr. Araki's words.

He shook his head. He was imagining things. Mr. Araki was only helping him with his family.

There was nothing wrong with that.

"Well, back then she didn't think that anyone really understood her. She thought the only one who really got her was Rose. She was the only one who realized that Amethyst hated herself. So when she died, Amethyst thought that no one else would ever get her the same way Rose did."

To Amethyst, Rose was the first person who saw all her flaws and still accepted her. She thought the purple Gem was perfect the way she was.

"So when she hung out with my Dad, she remembered all the good times she had with Rose; when she wasn't so focused on hating herself. And the fact that my dad enjoyed hanging out with her made her feel happy. So she really didn't want it to end. Because then there would be nothing to distract her from her problems."

And because of that, she had turned into Rose. And his Dad had most likely relived so many painful memories the moment he saw the purple Gem shapeshift.

All because she didn't want to focus on her own self-hatred, and had taken it out on his own Dad.

"Steven, did Ms. Amethyst also not talk about her issues with her teammates like Pearl did?"

"No."

His response was immediate. He didn't even take a moment to consider Mr. Araki's question.

"Why do you think that is?"

"Becuase Garnet and Pearl back then didn't really get her. They never understood how painful it was for her to be born the way she was. They didn't get how she felt like she was less of a Gem and more like a mistake."

"So her friends, who she spent centuries with, never took the time to understand her? To figure out what she felt inside, even though they're a family?"

He blinked.

Now that he thought about it, how was it that neither Garnet or Pearl realized Amethyst's issues? It wasn't until Amethyst shouted at Pearl all her doubts and insecurities that she finally realized what Amethyst actually thought of herself. Pearl had similar issues to Amethyst, so if anything, she should have been able to identify with Amethyst's own problems.

And how did the others not notice Pearl's issues? Garnet seemed to have a firm understanding about Pearl's mentality, yet it looked like she hadn't really done anything to help considering Pearl still...had some problems. That much he could now see.

How could the Gems be so...blind to each other's torment?

"No. No, they did not."

There was something in his voice. A faint bitterness lying beneath his words. Even though it was small, it was still somewhat sharp.

He saw Mr. Araki raising an eyebrow.

"Before you describe Ms. Amethyst as someone who often tells jokes. Would it be safe to say she often uses jokes or humor to distract herself from the fact that Rose is gone? From having to admit her own issues?"

"Yeah."

"I take it you have been forced to help her with her issues at some point?"

He...he did not like how Mr. Araki had said he was "forced" into helping Amethyst. But he still answered his question.

"Yeah."

"And despite you helping her, she still has these issues. Despite your best efforts she still hates herself. And would it be safe to say she hasn't talked about her self-lotathing since you two fused."

He could once again feel the same horrible nausea choking him when he turned into Smokey Quartz.

"Yes."

"So, let me see if I understand this correctly."

He felt cold again. He could suddenly feel dread swirling at the bottom of his stomach. And it only grew as Mr. Araki took a moment to pause and cross one leg over the other.

"Ms. Amethyst once turned into your mother just to hurt your father because he wanted to leave her. Instead of talking through her issues, she chooses to instead hurt the person who accidentally made her remember a better time. The same person who no doubt was deeply disturbed by seeing his dead wife."

He felt his breath leave his body. He could not move a single inch. Every word Mr. Araki said was clipped and curt. Every word made him feel like he was being punched right in his chest. Fresh pain was suddenly strangling his heart.

"Despite you helping her, she still has these issues to this day. And instead of talking to the one person who can understand her, she chooses instead to hide behind a facade of jokes and humor to ignore her issues."

"That...that's not true."

He found his voice hidden underneath his pain. It was shaky, somewhat quiet, but he knew Mr. Araki could still hear him.

The blond businessman narrowed his eyes.

"I believe you said something similar about Ms. Pearl."

His lips turned into a frown, fingers curling into fists.

"Well, I know I'm right this time. Amethyst doesn't just choose to not talk about her feelings. It's hard to open up and tell other people that you think you suck."

"Yet, even though you've helped her in the past, she refuses to accept it again? When you yourself admitted she still has some lingering issues?"

His anger continued to consume him. It was like a fire was slowly being ignited within his soul, and with each moment it became bigger.

"Amethyst knows that she can come to me whenever she wants to. Besides that, I know she doesn't hate herself nearly as much anymore. And it's not like she's hurt anyone."

"Except your father."

He bit his tongue.

"That...was one time. And me and my dad both forgave her for that."

She made a mistake. That was all. It wasn't fair to judge her just because of that one mistake.

"Do you perhaps think that you are too forgiving? That perhaps Ms. Amethyst uses that fact to get away with such awful behavior?"

"Wha-No!"

He was shouting now. His eyes glared at the blonde businessman across from him.

Mr. Araki's purple eyes were in the same blank stare as before. The man hadn't even flinched at his sudden change in volume.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes!"

"It's just, Pearl has done somewhat similar things in the past. And judging by our earlier conversation, you've seemed to forgive Pearl for her actions rather easily in the past."

He could once again see Pearl in his mind. And he could hear her voice in his ears.

_"Why don't you let me do this for you R-"_

Any ounce of self-control was lost as he shouted as loudly as possible.

"Well, unlike Pearl, Amethyst actually learns from her mistakes and doesn't just worship Rose! She's not nearly as idiotic as Pearl!"

His eyes widened.

He brought a hand to his mouth and immediately stopped talking.

Did... Did he really just say that?

Mr. Araki did not respond. Silence was the only thing he got as a response to his thought.

He wasn't sure if she was really over Rose's death. He wasn't sure if she wasn't aware of his turmoil. He was starting to wonder if she was a selfish person. And all of his doubts brought up bad memories about her past mistakes. Throughout the conversation, he could see memories he had with Pearl that were not exactly pleasant, if only for a second. It was upsetting, and it hurt him to remember those times. It made him start to question who Pearl was.

But he still couldn't believe he said Pearl was idiotic. In his anger, those words had come from somewhere deep with his mind.

"I...I didn't mean that."

He didn't. There was no way he could.

"Yes, you did."

Mr. Araki was staring right into his eyes.

And he found himself unable to look away from his gaze. He suddenly felt scared to even blink.

"No I-I just got angry. I didn't mean that. I-."

"Steven, don't you understand?"

Mr. Araki gave him a smile. It was smaller than his other ones, but the empathy from before had returned the moment his lips curled.

"You're finally starting to see."

That smile disturbed him. It actually made him want to run away. Why he was so intimidated by a smile, he had no idea.

"What? See wha-?"

"Tell me, Steven, have you ever told Ms. Amethyst how Pearl has made you feel?"

His mouth felt dry.

"I... I..."

He remembered something.

"Or perhaps told her how you feel about your mother?"

A time when he had told Amethyst how he felt.

"Yeah."

It was after they had their battle to see who was the worse Crystal Gem. When he was laying on the ground, exhausted and somewhat bruised, he told her. Maybe it was because he was tired and couldn't keep his doubts within himself like he usually did. Maybe it was because after hearing her talk about how useless she felt after getting beaten by Jasper, he thought it would be good to share with her how he could relate.

But no matter the reason, he still told her.

"Really?"

"Yeah. It... It was only once, but I told her how I felt. Well, sort of, I guess. I... I told her that I wasn't Rose Quartz."

"How did she respond?"

"She understood what I meant. She realized that just like her, I kinda felt like I wasn't who I was supposed to be. That I was just a...mistake."

He glanced to the ground.

"She saw how upset I was, and she really felt bad about it. I could tell just by looking at her face. She apologized to me afterward for making me feel like that."

"And then?"

He tilted his head to the side.

"Huh?"

"What did she do after that? Did she offer to help you through your issues the same way that you helped her?"

Did she?

He tried to think about what exactly she did after he confessed, but he couldn't remember anything of note. Sure, for the first few days after he told her, she had asked him how he was feeling, telling him that he was himself and not Rose.

But after a few days...she never brought it up again.

It was like she had...forgotten about his confession.

"I... No, she didn't."

"So, she knew about your inner distress, and chose to do nothing?"

He bit his lower lip.

"Yeah."

Mr. Araki did not respond. And the silence that followed was absolutely suffocating.

"Steven... You just saw it before, so why can't you see it again?"

See what? What was it Mr. Araki wanted him to see?

The blonde businessman spoke before he could ask what he meant.

"Allow me to tell you what I think of Ms. Amethyst."

This wasn't going to be good.

"I will admit, that from what you have told me, Amethyst seems to have better control of her issues than Pearl does."

The blonde businessman's eyes narrowed.

"But that is not exactly saying much."

He had expected him to say something along those lines. But that didn't mean they didn't hurt. He winced as he felt like he had once again been punched in the stomach.

"Amethyst has hurt the people who loved her in the past because she was busy wallowing in her insecurities. She couldn't focus on anything more than her own self-loathing and consciously choose to harm your family. Your father being the prime example."

He winced again. He felt his entire body tremble. His eyes were facing the bench. He couldn't bring himself to look up. Before, when Mr. Araki had said similar things to Pearl, all he could feel was anger.

But now...

Now all he could feel was...fear. A cold, bitting, fear.

He could see images of Amethyst. Some of her laughing at her own jokes. Others of him and her playing video games together.

But there was one that stood out. One that seemed to keep repeating in his mind.

It was of her transforming into his mother. And for the first time, he saw just how cruel her grin was before she turned into Rose.

"Amethyst is the type of person who, much like Pearl, hurts the people who are trying to help her. You've been trying to help her for so long, and though she's made strides, she still has lingering issues. And instead of seeking help from the one person who seems to care about her, she chooses to keep bottling them up and deal with them herself. Even though she couldn't deal with them centuries ago, she now thinks she doesn't need the aid of the person who has selflessly helped her even when she didn't deserve it."

Bottling them up. That sounded like... What he did with his feelings.

"Tell me, Steven, if Amethyst continues to refuse help from you, do you think that another incident like the one with your father will happen again? Or perhaps she'll do something similar to Pearl? Emotionally manipulating you and your friends just to make herself feel better."

She...she wouldn't do that...right?

He thought back to Pearl. She was someone he loved and who loved him back yet...she had hurt him and the rest of their family.

All because she...she...

He didn't finish that thought.

"I don't know."

"The fact that you can't answer whether your guardian may hurt you in the future is far from a good answer, Steven."

He knew it wasn't but...it was the only thing he could come up with. And that irritated him to no ends. Anger was slowly rising within him. He could feel it slowly move its way to his chest.

"And she can't even help the person who confided in her his own issues. She's supposed to take care of you, yet when you needed her most, she left you to deal with your problems by yourself. Even though she knows how ineffective that method is."

Mr. Araki's words were now spoken in a hushed voice. He looked up and saw that the man's expression was no longer emotionless. Instead, all he could see was pity in the man's half closed eyes. It was as deep as the ocean. Like he felt sorry for him that he had to have Amethyst as a guardian. And his sorrow only seemed to grow with each moment.

He should have been angry. Should have been yelling at someone for thinking Amethyst was...a bad person.

But strangely, he felt... nothing. Like he couldn't even decide how he should feel. That couldn't be a good thing.

"And all because she's selfish. All because she only wants other people to help her with her problems, and not the other way around."

Mr. Araki leaned in closer.

And for a moment, his eyes looked...different.

"Just. Like. Pearl."

Suddenly he could only feel fear. A massive terror that was incredibly cold. He felt like he was falling again. He could once again see himself plummeting through the air as he someone watched him. While someone he loved just stood there and watched

Except this time Pearl wasn't alone. For one moment, he swore he saw Amethyst standing right next to her.

And then he stopped falling.

And he was brought back to that night on the beach.

_Yeah, Steven...we'd never do something that bad._

Why did she look so...guilty when she said that?

"Tha-That can't be true!"

Even he knew how desperate his voice sounded. He felt his eyes widen as his fear continued to grow.

"There's no way... Amethyst made mistakes but, she's learning. She might have hurt people before but-."

"That's the problem. She's your guardian, she's not supposed to hurt the people you love. She should be mature enough to accept the fact that she needs help, but instead, she doesn't. She's similar to Pear, only in her case she's slightly better. For Pearl doesn't even admit she has problems or that she's hurt her own family."

He couldn't look away. He wanted to, but his body refused to move. He couldn't even breathe right now. He wouldn't have ever agreed with Mr. Araki twenty minutes ago, but now...now he started to see things.

Times when Pearl and Amethyst had hurt either him or his family with their words and actions. Times he had tried to forget, but still festered in the back corners of his mind.

Each and every memory he saw made a cold pain grip his heart. Never had these memories made him feel like this. It was only now, as he truly started to think about the implications of their mistakes, that he began to wonder...if...

If...

He didn't finish.

"I believe you have one more guardian to talk about, Steven. Ms. Garnet, I believe is her name, correct?"

Mr. Araki once again looked different to him. Like a completely different person.

And for some reason, this new person he was looking at...scared him. There was something about his purple eyes. Something that seemed to flash within them, if only for an instant, and then disappear.

"I'm waiting, Steven."

He shook his head. He was seeing things. Things that he couldn't even explain properly.

But he still felt uncomfortable, despite realizing how ridiculous it was.

He just needed to talk. That would make this feeling go away.

"Garnet's been the leader of the Crystal Gems since Rose died."

"So, she hasn't been the leader for that long?"

"I guess compared to Rose she hasn't been."

"I've seen her walking around town, and if you don't mind me saying so, she's rather...intimidating."

Yeah. He could see why some people would get that impression of her.

"She is a little bit intermediating. But, that's only because she's always so serious. She doesn't really express herself that much."

He thought back to moments where she'd let her serious mask slip off.

"But when she does, she's really kind. She's always there for her family and always willing to do anything to save us. She's the wisest person I've ever met, and probably the strongest Gem out there. And all of her traits make her the best leader for The Crystal Gems."

But...just because she was the best leader the Gems could have, that didn't mean she didn't make mistakes.

And for a woman who had future vision, she seemed to do that a lot more than one would expect.

"Is there anything else I should know?"

"Well..."

No secrets. He couldn't keep anything hidden from Mr. Araki. He needed to be honest.

Unlike the-.

He bit his tongue. He just needed to talk about Garnet, that was all.

"She's... Not technically not just one person."

Mr. Araki raised an eyebrow.

"I'm going to have to ask you to explain a little bit more, Steven."

"She's a fusion."

He saw curiosity swell within the man's purple eyes.

"A fusion?"

"Yeah."

"She's always a fusion? As in, she was born a fusion?"

"Well, no. See, Garnet is made up of two Gems named Ruby and Sapphire."

The moment those words left his lips, Mr. Araki's expression seemed to change. Maybe it was just him, but there seemed to be some new emotion lingering with the man's face.

The uneasy feeling within him was growing again.

"Is...something wrong?"

"Not at all. Please, continue talking."

He must have been seeing things.

"Ruby and Sapphire used to serve Homeworld. But one day, they were forced to run away because they accidentally fused with each other. So they ended up on earth, and they slowly learned more and more about one another. Soon, they were in love, and once again they fused. Except this time, they didn't un-fuse. They realized how amazing it was to be fused with the person they loved, and they decided to stay like that. They could be what they wanted to be."

That was how Garnet described the day they ran from Blue Diamond. As a tale of two lovers becoming an answer to questions they had been wondering about since they left their world.

"So, she's always fused? She never...stops being a fusion?"

"No. Garnet's basically the embodiment of their love. And their love's at their strongest when they're fused."

"I see..."

The businessman trailed off. His eyes looked to the side for the moment, like he was thinking about something before they looked right into his own pupils.

"Tell me, Steven, you said before that Ms. Garnet was rather stoic, yes?"

"Yeah."

"Does she ever seem hard to approach?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, does her serious attitude and demeanor ever discourage you from talking to her?"

"Not really. When it's just us, me and the other Gems, she's not nearly as serious."

He paused for a moment. It was true Grant wasn't as serious as she was whenever they went on missions, but she was still somewhat intense.

And he remembered times that when he wanted to talk to her about certain things...he instead chose to say nothing.

"Well, I mean, there are some things that...I guess...I have trouble talking to her about."

"Like your mother."

He flinched. His eyes immediately looked down at the bench.

"Yeah."

It wasn't like it was easier to talk to any one of the Gems about his mother. Pearl... Pearl was probably the most difficult one out of all the Gems when it came to talking about his mother. She was always praising her. Always saying how wonderful she was. How she had sacrificed so much for so many Gems.

It just reminded him that he was nothing like this spectacular woman Peal adored. And after his conversation with Mr. Araki about her feelings for his mother still existing and how...she might be a bad person...

Well, the feelings of inferiority were slowly being consumed by his own doubts. Doubts born from the ivory Gems words about herself and his mother.

Amethyst didn't praise Rose nearly as much as Pearl, but she still loved her. To her, Rose was the kindest person she met. The first one to love her. The first one to accept her. When she did talk about Rose, she didn't gush about her like Pearl did. Instead, she chose to describe how Rose made her feel like she was meant to be born the way she was. That she wasn't a mistake, just different.

It was like Rose was her mother as well as his.

And seeing the melancholic expressions crossing her face whenever she talked about a moment between her and Rose...it hurt. And now that she knew how he felt about his mother, and despite that fact she still went on about her amazing she was made his pain even worse.

But Garnet, when it came to talking about Rose, was almost equally as difficult as the other two Gems.

"Sometimes I feel like Garnet...is impossible to talk to when it comes to Rose."

"Why is that?"

"Because she always talks about her like she was...perfect."

"Like what Pearl does?"

"No, it's...Different."

He let out a sigh. He tried to find the right words to describe what he felt.

"When Pearl talks about Rose, it's mostly about how she was a wonderful person. How she always saw the good side of people. How she never made a mistake. How she always knew when-."

He realized that a sharp bitterness had entered his words as he spoke. The faint anger in his voice was slowly becoming hotter with ever syllable. And these emotions had been growing without him even noticing until right now.

He saw Mr. Araki was looking at him with furrowed brows. He let out a tiny cough before he continued.

"Basically Pearl usually talks about Rose's personality. What she liked and what she didn't like. But Garnet talks about her as a leader."

"A leader?"

"Yeah. She always talking about how Rose made the best decisions. How she never lost her cool in any situation. No matter what, Rose made the best choices possible, and she saved countless Gems because of her leadership skills."

His eyes glanced down.

"But...she rarely talks about her as a person. As the woman behind the rebellion. She's told me...the basics I guess, but she never goes into detail about...anything when it comes to Rose."

"Similar to what the other Gems do when you ask about information regarding their home planet?"

"...Yeah."

All of the Gems were vague. All of them rarely ever talked about Homeworld. They never seemed to talk about other Gems. Not even when they were catching Corrupted Gems did they ever explain what exactly the Gem was like before they became corrupted. They didn't say anything about their past. They rarely talk about the Gem War other than the fact that so many good Gems died fighting it. Which was an obvious fact, even to him.

But the thing they were vague about the most was...Rose.

And Garnet seemed to be the vaguest one out of all the Gems.

"I've...Asked questions before to her about Rose. I've only asked her because I thought...she'd be the one to give me a straightforward answer out of all the other Gems. Like, I asked her what did Rose do before the rebellion? And she told me that Rose, even back then, was always striving to break away from Homeworld. I've asked her how she escaped the Diamonds, she said through her wits and cunning."

He felt his lips move into a frown.

"But when I ask her if she can go into more details, she would tell me that's a story for another day."

It was...frustrating to not have such basic information. That the one who was the wisest out of all the Gems couldn't see why he was asking these questions. How could she be so blind as to why he was asking these questions in the first place? Why didn't she just give him an answer instead of just a vague summary of what Rose did?

Why did all of the Gems do this?

It's obvious. They didn't want to tell him. They thought he didn't deserve to know what they were keeping from him. It's because they're being vague on purpose you id-.

He blinked. And then he wiped some sweat off his forehead with his hand.

Where did that thought come from? It was so... harsh. That thought shouldn't belong to him.

And it was only now that he realized certain thoughts had been almost equally as harsh as this one.

"Steven...out of all your guardians, you said Ms. Garnet seems to be the wisest, correct?"

"Yeah."

"And did Rose entrust her to lead the Crystal Gems after she died."

"I...I guess."

"You guess or you know? Hasn't she ever talked about what happened when she announced when she was having you?"

"Not even once."

He felt his fist tighten. There was anger in his words. His voice wasn't loud, but the venom within it was obvious.

He did not like that. He did not want to be so angry.

But he couldn't stop his feelings no matter what he tried.

"So, is it usually her that most of the other Crystal Gems look to for guidance?"

"Yeah. If... I don't help them first."

It always seemed like he had to be the one to fix their issues. The kid who barely even knew what he was always had to be there for the other Gems.

He could feel anger once again rise within his stomach.

He bit his lower lip.

"Can she not see?"

Wait...what?

He raised an eyebrow as he looked into Mr. Araki's eyes.

"Like...do you mean, if she's blind?"

"Yes."

"...No."

"Ah, I see. Forgive me for that assumption. With that visor of hers, I can't see her eyes, so I couldn't tell. They're a lot like Ms. Peridot's now that I think about it."

Something was bothering him about what Mr. Araki just said. But whatever it was, he could no longer feel it after a second.

For as he stared into the man's eyes, he once again thought he saw something hiding within them. And whatever he was looking at...was incredibly disturbing.

"Because if she was blind, then that might excuse her horrible actions towards her friends."

He felt fresh pain and a coldness once again entered his body.

"What?"

Out of all the Gems, Garnet was the only one who he could remember...not committing a deeply wrong or cruel act to the ones she loved. It was...not easy to admit, but after talking to Mr. Araki, he realized that Garnet was the one who had never once done something similar to Pearl and Amethyst. She had never turned his friend into anything more than a shell. She had never turned into his own mother just because she wanted to traumatize his dad.

She never did anything even close to the horrible deeds Pearl and Amethyst had done.

"She hasn't done anything to them!"

He was surprised he was shouting. Even with the pain and coldness gripping him from within, he still had the strength to shout.

"She's never done anything even remotely close to what Pearl and Amethyst have done to me!"

He realized he had forgotten a few people.

"And...And my friends and my dad."

Those last words were spoken in a much quieter voice. And the coldness seemed to become more piercing the moment those words left his lips.

"Really? Then why is it she's allowed both Amethyst and Pearl to continue to wallow in their own insecurities and do nothing? Why hasn't she tried to console Pearl about her feelings for Rose or Amethyst's self-hatred? "

"Because...she doesn't know about their-."

He stopped himself.

He felt his heart stop. The coldness within him now completely engulfed his body. He felt numb; like his body had forgotten how to move.

"I..."

"Steven you're starting to see it again. Not the full picture, but parts of it."

Mr. Araki scooted a little closer to him.

"Keep going."

Garnet... Garnet had been a part of the Crystal Gems for centuries. Just like Rose, she had been a part of their family for so long.

"She...She does know about their problems."

She was probably the first one to realize their issues. She had been the one who told her about how Pearl was willing to sacrifice herself for Rose. She had been the one who wasn't surprised when he told her Amethyst hated herself after he returned from the Kindergarten.

"She know's...But she doesn't do anything to help them."

There was no way she didn't know. He realized their issues. Someone who was not nearly as smart as her. Someone who lacked centuries worth of interactions and memories with his guardians when compared to her.

She had to realize it.

Just like...Rose.

"There's...there's no way they didn't know."

If even half of what the other Gems said about Rose was true, then she was probably smarter than even Garnet. Most likely even more attentive than anyone could imagine. She had spent centuries with the Gems, so she probably knew them better than themselves.

So...she had to have known.

Rose knew. She knew and did nothing. She knew about Pearl's feelings. She knew she loved her. She had to have known her leaving would cause Amethyst to hate herself even more than before. She knew all of this... And still chose to leave them all behind. She chose to leave them when they still needed help. When they were so obviously damaged.

Was it because she was...selfish?

Becuase she was...a bad person?

_I saw the leader of the Crystal Gems Rose Quartz shatter Pink Diamond!_

Was Garnet...just like her?

"No..."

He lowered his head. He gripped chunks of his hair with both hands.

There...there had to be a reason. There had to be some kind of explanation!

"There's no way she's...a bad person. She's...she's kind and loving. She's saved the world."

"Amethyst and Pearl have as well, Steven."

He glanced up.

Narrowed Purplish eyes looked won at him.

Wait...Purplish? That wasn't right, they were clearly pure purple. Where did he get-?

"And I think we both know that just like Garnet, they are far from good people."

He couldn't even breath the moment Mr. Araki said that.

No...that had to be wrong...if Garnet was a bad person...if the other Gems were as well...

Then what did that mean about all their secrets? Were the things they kept hidden from him a way to prevent him from learning the truth about them?

About...Rose?

"That-."

"You're about to say something along the lines of that Garnet isn't like Pearl and Amethyst, correct?"

He stopped talking. The only thing he could do was slowly nod his head.

Mr. Araki let out a sigh.

"Steven... Let me ask you, why on earth would Ms. Garnet never help her friends when they needed it?"

His lips moved into a thin line.

"The only answer I can see is rather simple."

No. Don't say it. Please don't-.

"She doesn't care about their problems."

Mr. Araki stopped speaking. There wasn't a single sound that could be heard for miles.

He was shaking now. Every part of his body had been consumed by an immense fear. He could feel it stab right through his heart as cold sweat traveled down his forehead.

Why? Why was he so scared? He should have been angry at Mr. Araki for saying such an obvious lie. For saying something that couldn't possibly be true.

So why was he trembling?

"She has had years to help her friends sort out their issues. Instead, she chose to ignore them. To let the people she calls a family despair over their fallen leader."

The blond businessman leaned in closer. Cold eyes that did not even resemble the kind pair he wore before almost glared at him.

"And she does all this because she is selfish."

He moved even closer.

"Surely as their friend, she would have chosen to help them. If she truly cared, she would have been there to console them after their original leader died. But it is obvious she did not do that. As if Pearl and Amethyst treatment of you isn't a clear enough indication."

Mr. Araki's lips twitched. The businessman leaned until his head was inches away from his own.

His eyes looked different again.

"I'm afraid that Ms. Garnet is just as bad as the rest of your guardians, Steven."

No...

His shaking had gotten even worse.

They weren't bad people.

He felt like vomiting. He felt like his stomach was turning inside out.

The Gems...they couldn't all be bad people.

They loved him. He was sure. More than sure. They-.

He saw Pearl glaring at him in his mind again.

He saw Amethyst turning into his mother.

And then he saw Garnet standing on the beach with the rest of them after Lapis had escaped.

_She doesn't know what she's talking about, Steven._

She had said those words in the same emotionless voice she always spoke in. Even though a Gem they had thought was nothing more than a relic from the past had told them she had been trapped in a mirror because of them. Even though it should have been shocking, or at the very least upsetting, to know that they had accidentally imprisoned a Gem for thousands of years.

And yet, she stood on the sand with an emotionless expression.

Almost like she knew.

Almost like she didn't care.

"NO!"

He was screaming. There were so many emotions in his voice. Fear ,rage, sorrow, regret. So many feelings were jammed into one word. That word held the weight of every awful emotion running rampant within him.

"She's not a bad person!"

He looked right into Mr. Araki's eyes. His cold, purple eyes. Eyes that disturbed him for some unexplained reason.

But he refused to look away.

"Maybe she didn't talk to them because she thought that leaving them alone was the best way to help them!"

"Steven, surely after a few days she would have seen how awful of an idea this was. If a parent saw that one method wasn't working to help their child through an emotional time in the life, they would change and try new ways to console them."

Mr. Araki's eyes looked right at him.

He found himself breathing heavily now.

"Garnet would have realized this method was useless. She'd have to be an idiot to think that doing nothing for years while Pearl and Amethyst lamented would be better than doing anything at all. The only reason I can see as to why she didn't truly try to help them..."

He paused.

And in an instant, his purple eyes terrified him. To him, there almost seemed to be something...dark, hiding within his eyes. And whatever it was struck the very center of his heart.

For a second, Mr. Araki's eyes almost looked like a different color.

"Is because she doesn't care about their problems. Just like how they don't care about hers."

His fear crushed his heart in a deadly grip. He could barely even think straight. His eyes were wide as his breaths came out at alarming speeds.

No. There's no way. They weren't like that. They weren't. They were his family. His everything.

They loved-.

_I saw the leader-._

"SHUT UP!"

He glared at Mr. Araki. Every emotion within him had been channeled to his face. Every ounce of sadness, anger, and fear had entered his eyes. He could feel every one of gis emotions fighting each other as they swirled in his words. Like a whirlpool that was made of his darkest thoughts.

And yet the man did not even blink.

"They do care! They're always there for each other! If one of them was in danger, they come running! If one of them died, then they would cry! And they've been doing that ever since Peridot died! So explain that!"

They had to be good people. If not, then why would they be fighting for earth? Why would they risk their lives so many times for people they didn't even know?

And what kind of secrets would they be keeping if they were bad people?

"Because they want to hurt each other."

Mr. Araki did not even hesitate slightly. He simply narrowed his eyes as the words left his lips.

He felt his heart slamming against his ribs. He could no longer look at the man and instead choose to focus on the bench.

"Wha-What?"

"They want to hurt each other. Your guardians have feelings, Steven. They know how to love, how to cry, and how to smile. What you have told me has made that clear. However..."

He paused.

His heart was beating like a drum now. A horribly loud drum that would not stop.

"It's clear that somewhere along the way, their relationship with one another has become toxic."

He was suddenly transported to the bottom of the sea.

And he could only see a giant green eye.

Toxic. That was the word Garnet had used to describe the fusion of Jasper and Lapis. A relationship that thrived of each person hurting one another.

And that was what Mr. Araki was calling the Crystal Gems.

"Why do you-."

"Because it's the only thing that makes sense Steven. They risk their lives for each other, yet they never seem to take the time to understand one another. They care enough that they'll cry if one of them get's hurt, but the next day they might end up being the one hurts the other. They're more than willing to put their desires before their supposed friends, but for some reason still feel bad about treating them like trash."

That describe the Gems perfectly. He absolutely hated that he was so quick to admit it but...Mr. Araki words seemed incredibly accurate.

He once again felt like vomiting. He hated every fiber of himself for saying that but...a small part of him felt the pain, the pain he had been feeling for so long...dwindle slightly.

He was shaking again.

"They like each other enough to live in the same house, but hate themselves enough that they're more than willing to let it out on one of their teammates. Or some of them just don't care either way and are more than willing to sit back and watch the fireworks."

Fireworks. Like the ones that began right after he saw Peridot die in a horrible explosion.

He could feel sorrow once again flood his body. But it was quickly pushed away by a cold, uncaring fear.

"But...they save the world."

Mr. Araki raised a brow.

"As I said before, even selfish people can do some good, even if they don't mean to. Tell me, after everything we've talked about, can you honestly say that you know why they fight such horrible creatures from their planet? Do you truly know if their motivations are good and not selfish?"

He thought he did. Before, he would say it was because they were good people and wanted to help.

But...now...

"Can you even tell if what they said to you wasn't just another lie? That there's not some alternate reason why they do this?"

He didn't respond. They had lied to him before. They kept lying to him whenever they kept another secret from him.

Whenever they pretended they weren't still in love with a dead woman.

When they tricked themselves into thinking they didn't hate themselves any longer.

When they convinced themselves they had done a good job of being a leader when their team was in shambles.

He...they...why did he have to think like that? Why wasn't he screaming at himself for such ridiculous thoughts? Why couldn't he just deny Mr. Araki's accusations?

Because you agree with him. Because you finally realize just how much the Gem's have-.

No! He refused to believe that!

"They... They might have flaws but... I know them. I love them."

Yeah. He loved them. That was-.

"Really? Even though it was only moments ago you said that Pearl was an idiot? That she was stupid for worshiping Rose"

He stopped talking. His eyes went wide; The coldness choked his throat. His entire body felt like it was made of ice.

"I...I didn't mean-."

"Yes you did Steven, don't lie to yourself."

"No... I would never-."

"You already admitted that the Gems have hurt you. That they keep hurting you over and over again."

"But...but they're...they're my family."

"Just because they're your family doesn't mean you have to love them, Steven. That you have to keep forgiving them for mistakes they keep making."

Mr. Araki moved closer. His hands gripped the shoulders of his jacket.

"It's time you saw the completed picture, Steven."

He felt trapped. Like he couldn't run away. Like something bad would happen if he tried to.

"Do you want to know why I am so sure that the Crystal Gems are awful people? Do you know what I wanted to confirm before we began this chat?"

He couldn't verbally respond. He was too scared to speak. All he could do was shake his head.

"It has to do with one thing. Or rather...one person."

He didn't want to listen. He wanted to cover his ears.

"It seems like all of their issues, have one linking factor. It seems like thier secrets all go back to one person."

Mr. Araki was so close he could feel his breath brush against his skin.

"It all seems like Rose Quartz is at the heart of all their problems."

He could see Rose smiling at him in the videotape she gave him. In his mind, that smile seemed even bigger than before.

Even as Pearl wept on that battlefield.

As Amethyst shouted about how much she hated herself.

As Garnet laid defeated on the beach.

"I...I..."

His body trembled so badly he was close to falling off the bench. He was like a leaf in a typhoon. Unable to stop itself as powerful winds forced it to move against its will.

"Rose seems to be someone who troubles you greatly, Steven. You've barely called her "mom" throughout our conversation, only referring to her by her first name. Like your avoiding calling her your mother."

He...he hadn't realized that. Now that he thought about it, he had rarely even called Rose his mother even in his own thoughts. As if he was ashamed of that fact.

Because you are ashamed. Because who would want to be related to that horrible person?

Shut up! Shut up!

Where did that voice keep coming from?! Why did he keep having to hear it constantly tell him those horrible things?!

"Well, I suppose I could understand why. After all, your guardians have essentially made Rose an object for you to hate."

Hate? Did he...hate Rose?

He felt pain whenever he was reminded about how great of a person she was from Pearl. He felt remorseful whenever Amethyst told him about how Rose was the only one who really got her. He felt inadequate whenever Garnet told him about how Rose led them to victory in so many battles.

But...did that mean he hated her?

Mr. Araki was still staring right into his eyes. The blonde businessman's purple pupils seemed so calm and looked so cold.

He saw something appear within them again.

"Steven, think about all the secrets they keep from you. You don't know anything about the planet they are from. You don't know anything about their past. Anytime you try to find more answers, all you get is more questions."

There had to be a reason for that! There just had to! If there wasn't...then, why on earth did they feel the need to keep such stuff from him?

Because they're bad people-.

No, shut up! Shut up! Why wouldn't that voice shut up!

"And all of these secrets, of all these lies are meant to keep something from you. But what is the question? What on earth are they so desperate to protect? Well, I have a rather good guess as to the answer."

His voice became a whisper. But the blond man next to him might as well have been shouting.

"They're keeping the truth about Rose from you."

He felt his eyes widened.

He had learned so much about Rose in such a short time. He learned she lied. He had learned she kept secrets from her closest friends.

He had learned she was far from perfect.

A fact the Gems seemed blind to.

"The only reason I can see as to why they keep so much from you is that they don't want you to know that Rose was far from perfect."

It was terrifying hearing the man in front of him essentially speaking his thoughts. To hear someone else think the same way he did about Rose.

Because it meant that he might be right.

"Your guardians have glorified Rose to the extreme. They make her sound like some sort of Goddess descended from the heavens themselves. When in reality, she wasn't. Yet they are so determined to keep up this false idea of their leader no matter what."

Mr. Araki's lips twitched. He had no idea as to why.

"Probably because pretending that such a perfect woman had been a part of their lives might make them feel like less awful people."

He was surprised how Mr. Araki's grip never lost its hold even as his trembling grew worse—the man's fingers held him down with ease.

No... that... That...

"That can't be right!"

Their secrets had to be different than that! They had to be something good! If they weren't, if they were really about how Rose was a bad person...about how she had shattered Gems in the past...

Then...what would that make the Gems? The people who knowingly kept such things from him?

"They...They love me! Bad people can't feel love!"

That was what motivated him. That was what gave him strength on a daily basis. The love he had for his home. The love of his friends.

The love of his family.

If they were bad people, then they wouldn't protect Beach City. If they were bad people, then how could they always smile whenever he accomplished something. When he helped defeat some random Gem monster. Every Gem he had met was a good person. Even the ones who had tried to kill him. So the Crystal Gems had to be good people too. Because if people who tried to murder him in cold blood were good, they must have been to. They had to be. They were people who always helped others. People who would never shatter anyone. People who-.

"Do they really love you, Steven?"

His shaking stopped.

Every thought came to a halt.

"What?"

His voice came out in a shrill gasp. His words sounded broken. Shattered. Like nothing could ever make them whole again.

Mr. Araki's grip tightened.

"How do you know they love you...and not Rose."

Mr. Araki's eyes pierced him. Powerful eyes easily saw through his every thought. His every emotion.

His very soul.

"One of them call's you Rose. The other talks about times with your mother as if your her and not you. And the last one talks about her skills as a leader as if she was right in front of you."

Mr. Araki looked down at his stomach.

At his Gemstone.

"They keep trying to steer you down the same path she walked. They keep telling you about all the things she did because they want you to be her."

That...that...

He couldn't even think. His trembling was so bad

"They're trying to turn you into a copy of the one they lost. To construct you into their ideal image of Rose. To finally have their imaginary idea of their leader come to live."

His voice failed him.

"To them...you're not Steven Universe."

He placed a hand on his stomach.

"You're just Rose Quartz."

The moment those words left Mr. Araki's lips, he felt something wrap around his limbs. His fear instantly dragged him into an abyss. The world faded and all he could see was darkness. The horror that suddenly assaulted him was vicious. It killed every other emotion within him. It made him know that he was at its mercy.

His terror let him know that Mr. Araki's words could not be truer.

"NO!"

Every part of him was trembling. Sweat fell down his skin like icy cold waterfalls.

"They don't think I'm Rose!"

He wasn't Rose Quartz! He wasn't their dead leader and he would never be!

They had to know that! They couldn't be that stupid!

"They're not bad people! They just make mistakes!"

"Mistakes which have deeply upset you, Steven. I'd even go as far as to say traumatized."

The calmness of those words only made him feel worse. They only made his fear all the more deadly.

"They help people!"

"Most likely for their own selfish reasons."

They weren't selfish! They couldn't be! He wouldn't believe it!

"Rose Quartz wasn't a bad person! She freed so many Gems!"

"For reasons, you don't know. For reasons they refuse to tell you."

"She would never shatter anyone!"

"I do not believe I ever suggested she did."

He could feel his fear swallow every fiber of his body.

Why? Why couldn't he ignore the voices? His fear? Why did these words hurt him so much?

"She hasn't done anything wrong!"

"Is that a fact?"

He stopped talking.

Mr. Araki's grip on his shoulders became harder.

His thought he saw something...glowing within his eyes.

"You're saying leaving three broken women alone to raise a child and never once trying to help them get over their issues is perfectly fine?"

"I-."

She... had done that.

"You're saying willingly choosing to leave your father alone and heartbroken is okay?"

He...no. That wasn't okay.

"You're saying that choosing to have a son at the cost of her own life, even though there are still threats on earth, even though there is apparently a galactic empire trying to destroy it, is okay?"

Of course not.

Mr. Araki was glaring at him now.

"You're so close to seeing it, it's frustrating. Why can't you see it?"

"See what?"

"Can you honestly sit there and say you can't think of one moment, one moment, where Rose Quartz's decisions have come to wreak havoc on your life?"

Yes. He could.

The Rubies coming after them. Jasper determined to destroy the Crystal Gems because of Rose. Homeworld having it out for the earth because of one woman.

And then there was-.

_Nice to see you remember me._

His eyes widened.

No...not now.

_Finally starting to see it, huh Steven?_

Why did he have to hear her voice now!?

"I don't want to talk anymore!"

He tried to move out of Mr. Araki's grasp. He tried to look away from his gaze.

But the blonde businessman would not let him go.

His eyes were gleaming with something...malevolent.

"You have to. This is for your own good."

The man's voice sounded so...empty.

He closed his eyes. He didn't want to look at Mr. Araki anymore. He had seen enough of the man's purple eyes for a lifetime.

"I don't care. Please, let me-!"

"Steven..."

That one word stopped him. That one word made a new fear drown his body. It was dark; It was violent. It was like his terror was telling him he had suddenly brought on the wrath of something like Jasper. Only whatever he had made angry was far more powerful than Jasper.

He opened his eyes.

Cold, emotionless eyes glared at him. Eyes that belonged to something horrible. To something that would hurt anyone it wanted.

Eyes that were a disturbing shade of pink were staring right through him. Eyes that were as far from purple as possible. Eyes that destroyed any control over his body he had left.

Eyes that belonged to the monster from his dream.

"Answer the question. Now."

He wanted to run. To run and never stop running. Everything was screaming at him to run. The words that left Mr. Araki's lips only made his fear all the more agonizing.

"Let me go!"

He could almost see the terror in his voice. The unyielding fear in his words slipped into the air. It made everything around him look like the cruel creature from his nightmare.

He suddenly felt like he was surrounded.

Like he was trapped.

"Not until you see it."

He struggled to break free. But the man's grip was incredibly strong.

Cold pink eyes continued to glare at him.

"See what?!"

"That your guardians, that Rose Quartz, are the cruelest people you have ever met!"

Mr. Araki was screaming. For the first time, he could hear anger in his voice. He could almost see it. It was cold yet hot. Something that burned people to ashes but also froze them to the spot.

"That they keep secrets not to protect you, but to prevent you from seeing the truth!"

He heard Eyeball's voice again. Except this time it was louder than it had ever been before. It rang in his ears a thousand times over.

_"I saw the leader of the Crystal Gems, Rose Quartz, shatter Pink Diamond!"_

"That there selfish people! That they're horrible!"

The next words left his mouth before he could stop them.

"I KNOW THAT!"

Mr. Araki finally blinked.

Once. Then twice.

The blond gentleman let go of him.

His eyes were no longer pink. They were back to his normal color.

But he was still shaking. His fear still strangled him from within.

Mr. Araki's lips were in a firm line.

"Keep going."

He could feel tears building up in his eyes.

"I... I'm always cleaning up after Rose Quartz's mistakes. Me and the Gems are always suffering because of her actions."

There never seemed to be a day where Rose Quartz's decisions didn't come back to bite him and his family.

"I keep learning things that the Gems don't want me to know."

So many times. He kept learning darker and darker secrets about the dead leader of the Gems. So many times was he shocked to hear about the things she had done. Jasper accusing Rose of only helping those who were at their weakest so that she can use them as tools. The Rubies saying she shattered Pink Diamond and Homeworld believing that as well.

Her bubbling Bismuth and lying about it to the very end. Never once letting the rainbow-haired Gem's friends know the truth. Even in death, she was planning on having Bismuth trapped in Lion's mane for who knows who long.

"Rose... Rose is my mom, but she's done horrible things. She's lied. She's hurt, people. Even her own friends. Even people who were loyal to her and just wanted to help. She was happy hiding things from everyone she's known."

She could have told them at any time. But she never did.

"The earth, her family, are all in danger because of her. But she still wanted to leave it all behind. Even though she said she loved all of them, she was more than willing to give it all up. To run away from her mistakes."

Like the Gems. They said they loved him, but their actions screamed that they didn't.

"She never talked to Pearl about her feelings for her before she died. Or to Amethyst about her self-loathing. Or even giving Garnet any advice on being a leader. She never stopped to consider how much her leaving the Gems would hurt them."

Did she even have a plan before she decided to give birth to him? Did she even once think about how exactly the Gems were going to deal with all the threats still wreaking havoc on and off earth?

Of course not.

Because she would never have done that if she truly cared. She would never have left the Gems if she actually wanted to help people.

She would never have done that if she wasn't a selfish, awful person.

"And the worse part..."

He was sobbing now. Tears once again fell from his eyes.

"Is that the other Gems don't see how much she sucked!"

They didn't see the full picture.

That Rose was a bad person.

They never had. And they never would.

"You're right! They're always saying how perfect she was. How loving she was!"

His words were blazing with fire. Every part of his voice was scorching. The hatred in his voice was unlike anything he had ever felt before.

Yes, hatred.

Hatred for his mother. From the bottom of his heart, he truly hated her.

He finally realized that thank to Mr. Araki.

"If she was so loving she wouldn't have abandoned the man who loved her! The team she fought for centuries with!"

If she truly cared, she wouldn't have left. If she hadn't left, then so many problems would have been solved instantly.

And Peridot might still be alive if the Gems had a competent leader.

"The Gems... My dad..."

That might have been the worse part. That his own father believed her lies. That a man so kind had been deceived by someone who was so awful.

"They keep believing that she's wasn't a bad person! Even though they keep seeing all the awful thing's she done with their own eyes!"

They barely mentioned Bismuth anymore. Like she never even existed. They never even talked about what the Rubies said about Rose after they returned from the moon. Like it wasn't a big deal.

It was disgusting. How could they be so cruel? How could they never bother to acknowledge all these horrible deeds? How could they not... feel anything after seeing all of this.

It was simple, really.

"Probably because they're almost as bad as her!"

He could see their smiling faces in his mind.

But this time he didn't see the usual kindness in their eyes.

Instead, he only saw how much those smiles enraged him. The fact that they were smiling, even though they were broken, even though they still weren't over their leader, they smiled.

They kept telling him to be his own person, despite them clearly wanting him to be another Rose Quartz.

And they said that lie with a smile.

"They always hurt me but they never notice! They're too busy fawning over Rose to even care!"

The pain constricting his body had almost completely faded. The fear had disappeared from existence. He finally realized why.

Because he was speaking the truth.

Mr. Araki had helped him see it. That the Gems were awful. That they never cared for him.

That they...never loved him.

Only Rose Quartz.

Because people who loved each other, people who were a real family, never would have done all the despicable deeds they had.

His jacket was completely covered in tears.

"I... I don't know what to do anymore."

Those last words were lower than a whisper. He could hear how empty his voice had become. How lifeless. As if every ounce of emotion had left his body and left only a corpse.

He had never felt so defeated in his life.

The Gems...the Gems were bad people.

They were bad people. They were bad people. They were bad people. They-.

He felt something wrap around his head.

He looked up and saw Mr. Araki had wrapped him in a hug.

"There, There..."

His warm features were back. The benevolence had returned and had gotten rid of any traces of his cold eyes from before.

He was smiling at him. A big, cheerful, smile.

"It's okay, Steven. I know how difficult this has been for you."

His hand moved to wipe away some of the tears staining his face.

"I'm sorry if I seemed cold before. I had to be harsh with you in order to get you realize it."

That explained it. Mr. Araki was a nice man. He was just being cold to get him to finally see something so obvious.

When had seen the cold eyes of the monster from his dream, it must have been because of all the stress he had been feeling.

That was it.

"But now that you have, I think it's time to move onto the next step."

He was confused by those words.

"The next step?"

"Yes. We will have to continue these conversations of ours. Say, every once in a while you come to meet me outside my house. You tell me a little bit about the Gem's past, whatever you know anyway, and I'll see how I can help you."

His smile seemed to get bigger.

And for a moment, he thought it was...creepy.

"You have just lost someone important to you. And I have just learned that the Gems are not suitable guardians for you. They've hurt you for years, and who knows how deeply their damage runs. So, I think we should meet up in somewhere private and just talk."

That...that did sound like it would help. To finally find someone he could be honest with.

And who better than a man who actually cared about him. Who didn't see him as Rose Quartz. His dad saw him as himself, but he loved Rose Quartz. He couldn't open up to him.

"Maybe... Maybe you can help the Gems to?"

Mr. Araki raised a brow.

"To help them see how Rose was a bad person."

He was surprised at himself for actually wanting to help them. Even though he could see all their horrible deeds replay in his mind.

Mr. Araki frowned.

"I don't think they'll see what we see, Steven."

Yeah...they wouldn't. It was stupid to think otherwise.

"In fact, I think it would be best if you didn't tell them about our talk. Or any future talks if you decide to have them."

"...Okay."

Right. He was going to have to face them again. He was going to have to see them again now knowing how awful they were.

He felt his heart twist. The fear from before had returned. And it was slithering with glee within his stomach. Because it knew just how bad any attempted conversation with them would go now that he had realized the truth.

"Would you mind...staying with me for just a little bit longer."

The frown was gone in an instant. His bright smile was back in its place.

"Of course not Steven."

He slowly wrapped his arms around the bigger man's waist.

Tears continued to fall down his eyes.

And he knew they wouldn't stop anytime soon.

* * *

He'd never have thought he would learn so much from the chubby boy in front of him in such a short time.

But he had. And he was having trouble not chuckling.

Kira didn't even mind that the boy was staining his clothes with his mucus and snot.

For he had hit a goldmine.

The Crystal Gems weren't some tightly knit family everyone in this town believed they were. They weren't loving people who protected Beach City like some shonen manga hero.

No. They were broken.

They were  _human_.

One was a remorseful lesbian who apparently wanted to have sex with a dead woman.

Another hated herself for being born.

And the last one was such a bad leader she was blind to everyone's torment.

It really was difficult to not laugh.

He truly was blessed. Having enemies that were already broken would make it so much easier to fight. Having people who had so many issues that not even the world's best shrink could help with would make any encounter so much more enjoyable.

And it was all thanks to Universe. All because Universe had been at the center of such pathetic people for years. All because this boy had no one else to talk to with.

All because the chubby idiot hadn't realized just how cruel his "guardians" were. And thanks to him, Universe had finally realized the most obvious thing in the world.

That they were the saddest, most pitiful people on the planet.

Really, the fact alone that they hadn't realized their "son" was holding such vast insecurities confirmed just how clueless they were. It basically screamed that they were too consumed with their own idiotic thoughts to notice that someone they "loved" was going through such torment.

It was hilarious. He honestly had great difficulty not smiling several times throughout their talk.

Now that he had Universe, he could learn as much as he wanted about his guardians. All their secrets. All their powers.

All their weaknesses.

Every action he took had been thought out. Ever moment he showed his true face, his true nature, had been to make sure Universe would spill his guts. There were risks, and few times perhaps he had been to menacing, but he had overcome them just like every obstacle before.

This had been a plan that used every art of manipulation he had learned after so many years of pretending to be a normal man. A plan that when it worked, would put him on an entirely different playing board then the rest of the idiots he was fighting.

And it worked to perfection.

He had already learned so much from this one conversation, he could not even imagine how much more he would learn from the next.

And the boy would  _willingly_ tell him all of this.

Because he believed Araki Hirohiko was a good man. Because the boy believed he wanted to help him.

He truly was an idiotic brat.

It was then he thought he heard something. He turned his head to the left but saw nothing.

Strange. Oh well, it must have been a random bird.

He looked back down at the sniveling child who was still hugging him.

He supposed in Universe's defense, he was technically helping him. He was pointing out the things anyone with an ounce of actual intelligence would have noticed. Really, how could anyone not see how shattered these people were? How could the boy who lived with them only now notice after, what, twelve? fourteen years?

Well, his age didn't really matter at this point.

Because after all, to a corpse, age is-.

He heard something again.

It sounded like something was...clanging against some kind of surface.

He turned his head.

He once again saw nothing.

No...something was wrong. There had to be something here. He was sure of it.

He eyes glanced down. And he saw what had made that noise.

A manhole cover. A manhole cover that was currently overflowing with dirty water.

He raised an eyebrow.

This didn't look natural.

As more water came from underneath the manhole, the cover began to shake. It kept clanging as the water continue to slip out from underneath and onto the streets.

And then, like someone had increased the pressure of on a faucet, the water became more violent.

In an instant, the water was now rushing from underneath the manhole cover. It flooded almost half the street in just a few seconds. It was as if a river had suddenly come into existence from underneath the manhole.

And the manhole continued to clang more and more with each second, spinning around its edges like a top.

His lips moved into a frown.

And an explosion of water came from underneath the manhole.

Water shot into the sky. Like a geyser has just been born underneath the street. The sudden torrent of water that erupted into the air shattered the silence that had been enveloping the streets for so long. He could feel droplets of the water pelted his skin and clothes.

He made sure not to swallow or inhale any of the filthy water. This was going to be a pain to get out of his clothes later.

He saw the manhole cover flip high into the air.

And from the corner of his eye, he saw Universe looking up at the geyser of filthy sewer water. Tears still in his eyes as he looked at where the manhole cover had once been.

"What the-?"

The boy didn't finish. Near the end of the street at an intersection, another geyser erupted into the air.

And over a set of buildings, they could see another manhole twirl high into the air as another explosion of water followed it.

And about a dozen or so geysers soon followed. Each one from a different location in the city. Each one visible as they seemed to go higher and higher into the air.

And then, the filthy water on the ground began to vibrate.

"Wha-What's happening?"

He wanted to roll his eyes. What was the point of asking such a stupid question?

He saw the water on the floor slowly become droplets. Bit by bit, the stream covering the street turned into tiny droplets of water that flew up into the sky. Thousands of tiny droplets seemed to be pulled by an invisible force as they went higher and higher. It was like it was raining in reverse.

He watched this with eyes that he knew held no emotion whatsoever.

And once every ounce of water had been turned into droplets, they began to converge. Each droplet smashed into each other. Every ounce of liquid seemed to shimmer as they began to take shape.

The first thing he saw was a long yet thick stomach.

The second was how the head became rough. Even though it was water, he could almost see a translucent skin slowly molding into bestial features.

The third was the tail. It was slimmer than it's main body, but it was still large. He could almost see the weight of that one appendage.

And the last thing were the eyes. Not even a drop of water had been used to create eyes. Instead, it only had empty, rectangular slots in the front of its face meant to act in place for pupils.

It was probably the length of about two school buses. Even though its teeth were made of water, he could tell they were very sharp. It's jaw looked powerful enough to snap a building in two. It did not have wings or legs, though; its body was more serpentine in nature, with the exception of two large arms that were half the length of its body. He could see water dripping down from its body and back onto the ground.

The water dragon that floated in the air was rather menacing, he would admit.

He continued to look at it with a blank expression.

Universe, on the other hand, was looking at it with wide eyes and an open mouth.

"...Lapis?"

Ahh. So that was it. Apparently, the blue woman could control the very shape the water she manipulated would take.

And he instantly knew why she had done so. She must have truly been distraught over that green midgets death.

How adorable.

The dragon continued to hover in the air. The water that made up its body seemed to be in constant motion. He could see it swirling. Could see it moving up and down in periodic patterns.

He then saw the dragon move its head to the right.

Towards the Beach.

He moved his head in the same direction. He couldn't quite tell, but it seemed like the dragon was looking at the general area of the hill on the beach and-.

No... that wasn't what it was looking at.

No, what this beast was looking at was The Beach House.

Well...maybe he wouldn't have to fight against alien women after all.

"Oh no..."

Universe was looking in the same direction as the dragon.

It was at that moment, the dragon moved. Like a jet, it flew through the air and headed straight towards the beach.

"No!"

He could hear the worry in Universe's voice. He could see how it weighed on his face as he wiped away the tears on his eyes.

Well, it looked like he still partially cared about his "guardians" well-being. He truly was an idiot. After everything they just talked about, he still cared if they died?

Universe jumped off the bench and ran after the dragon. Running as fast as his little legs would carry him.

Once he was out of sight, he slowly got up. He reached for the spare handkerchief that he kept in his left pants pocket. He was thankful he always kept two since he gave the first one to Universe.

He began to wipe away at the filthy water covering his face and clothes. Once he felt that he had gotten rid of as much as he could, he proceeded to walk in the general direction of his house.

Go ahead, Universe. Save your family. Be the hero.

It'll be the last time he'll ever save anyone.

It'll be the last time he'll ever care about his family.

Because after a few more talks...he would have the perfect little weapon to kill any sort of bonds these idiots had left.

His lips moved into a smile. And he could feel just how sinister it was. How much cruelty that one smile released with every second.

He truly loved this world.

_To Be Continued~_


	11. Side Story: Home

Something seemed...wrong.

Jotaro Kujo took another sip of his coffee. The drink held just the right amount of bitterness that he had developed a taste for ever since he hit his thirties. Once he finished, he gently placed the white coffee mug back on the table.

"So, how is it?"

"It's good."

His eyes looked away from the cup as he gazed at the black-haired woman sitting on the opposite side of the table.

A small smile graced Tomoko Higashikata's lips.

"Well, I'm glad you don't think it tastes like shit."

He reached for the cup again and took another sip. He never knew the mother of Josuke Higashikata could make such good coffee. Though, he had never known a lot of things about Tomoko before. But the more he visited her house, the more he learned about her.

Ever since Josuke had seemingly disappeared off the face of the earth, he had frequently come over to talk with his mother. After a few days of searching for the teenager, Tomoko had begun to get suspicious. He had at first told her that Josuke would be spending more time with him because he needed help on researching certain marine life. This had been mere hours after he had been told what had happened to his Uncle by Hayato, the son of the man Kira murdered, and a shell-shocked Okuyasu.

He knew that it might take a while to find Josuke. Instincts refined after so many encounters with the supernatural told him they would not find Josuke right away. That his Uncle might not be found for some time.

He had hoped his instincts would be wrong.

But still, he took precautions. And at first, she believed his words. Why wouldn't she? Josuke had been spending more and more time with him as they hunted for the bastard sociopath hiding in Morioh. And he had used the exact same lie in the past, so it was consistent and didn't seem too strange.

But then the days slowly passed by, and Josuke still had yet to return to his home. Tomoko had become more aggressive. She had made frequent calls to his personal phone, Josuke had told her his number some time ago, asking if she could speak with her son. He had told her more lies to try and placate her. To try and stop the slight glares she would send him whenever she visited his hotel and asked if Josuke was here.

He had realized that if nothing were done, Tomoko would stop asking and start demanding. He could tell she barely restrained herself from yelling whenever they talked. He could see the small twitches her hands would make whenever he denied her. If her anger was anything like her son's whenever someone insulted his hair...he would rather avoid facing off against a pissed off mother.

So with a few calls to the Speedwagon Foundation, he had constructed an intricately planned story.

And the next time he saw Tomoko, he told her a new lie.

That Josuke was studying abroad.

Of course, the instant those words left his mouth, Tomoko immediately let all her doubt and mistrust pool into her expression. She immediately glared at him, and in that moment, she knew that he was lying to her.

That is, until he showed her the papers.

The employees at the Speedwagon Foundation were some of the best when it came to forgery. Several times when he had been sent on quests to find rogue Stand Users, he had the foundation make him fake passports or ID's to get into several different countries. By now, he had at least twenty-three different passports, each one filed under a different name he kept back at his home. The foundation could create fake documents that would even slip under the CIA's radar. They looked so authentic that no one, not a single government organization or group, not in the seventy plus years since they were founded, had ever been able to tell that something they forged was a fake.

So showing Tomoko a list of transcripts, scholarships, several letters from real high schools including Josuke's own and colleges that wanted him to take up fake boarding school programs, a strongly worded letter of recommendation written by himself, had lessened the hostility taking shape in her features.

He quickly explained that after seeing him researching local starfish, Josuke had shown a passion for marine biology. He told him he saw that the teen was in interested in marine life, so he had given him some practice test, to see just how much knowledge he had on the subject at hand, and Josuke's results had shocked him. The teenager had done remarkably well, and he had seen just how much Josuke loved marine life. After pulling some strings, Josuke had met with several of his colleagues and friends and they too saw the potential the high school student had. So, they had given Josuke a list of schools that had study abroad programs he could apply to, and promising to put a good word for him to every and any school he wished to join.

Tomoko was still skeptical. Why hadn't her son discussed this with her his plans of studying abroad? Why hadn't she heard even a peep from Josuke in the days and why couldn't she talk to him? Why hadn't he even said goodbye to her?

Why had her son, the person who loved Morioh from the bottom of his heart, just like his grandfather, decide to just leave?

These were all fair question, and he had an answer to every single one.

He told her that the process was rigorous. He told her that the moment Josuke was accepted, he had to study and talk with numerous professors of the school he was attending. He told her that telling mother had slipped his mind. He had been spending so much time with him and preparing for his new boarding school life he had honestly forgotten. And by the time he wanted to tell Tomoko, he was already off. And the reason why he couldn't call him was that he was still settling in his new home. He wanted to call his mother and tell her how he was doing, but there weren't many phones in the school and he didn't get many chances to use them since he was constantly busy. The life of a man studying to become a marine biologist was extremely difficult. However, he told her that he could send her that when Josuke did get fully adjusted to his new schedule, he would call her immediately.

He told Tomoko that Josuke had promised he would call her as he dropped his Uncle off at his new school.

He made sure to add that Josuke felt guilty about not telling his own mother. He told her how her son had felt awful about letting such a thing escape him. Josuke did not mean to leave his mother without saying goodbye or telling her his plans, but he had been too caught up in his studies. He had been too focused on trying to get into the boarding school that he acted like, in his words, a dumbass.

Tomoko still wanted to know why Josuke chose to leave Morioh behind.

Why he had chosen to leave  _her_ behind.

It was no secret to him that Josuke Higashikata loved his mother from the bottom of his heart. The only thing that ever came close to his love for Tomoko was his love for his home and friends. So it was suspicious that her son would willingly choose to be separated from the things that mattered most to him.

He had explained that Josuke would return immediately to Morioh the moment his boarding school program ended. It wasn't that he didn't love Morioh anymore, they both knew that the boy's love for his home was perhaps greater than even his grandfather's. And it certainly wasn't that he didn't love his mother anymore; not that Tomoko needed him to tell her that. The reason why was because that Josuke had recently been concerned about his future. He had been wondering what he should do with his life now that he was getting closer to adulthood.

And with his grandfather's sudden death, he had begun to realize how short life could truly be.

He knew using her father's death as a reason for Josuke's decision was cruel. It was something that left his mouth with a bad taste. But it was better than telling her he had no idea where her son was.

Better than telling her there was a chance Josuke might be dead.

Her suspicion once again decreased once those words left his mouth. And after about another hour of talking, he was able to convince her. She was still upset but was far less so than before.

And ever since then, she had often invited him to her house. She wanted to know if he had any information on how Josuke was doing at school. He often told her the same answer. That he had received letters from colleagues over at his school saying that his Uncle was doing fine.

Of course, he showed her these letters. One of them said that the phones at school weren't working, so it might take some time for Josuke to contact his family again.

He did not miss the way Tomoko eyes had narrowed whenever he gave her one of his lies. Though he could tell it was mostly out of frustration at being once again being denied contact with her son. Still, as two weeks passed, she seemed to believe him more and more.

But now, something was...different.

He did not know why he felt like that there was something wrong when he walked into Tomoko's house again. There was a voice in the back of his head whispering that something was amiss about the mother of Josuke. A lingering feeling in his gut warned him that the woman in front of him was hiding something.

Years of battling Stand Users had made him learn to trust these signs. To trust the voices in his mind that warned him of danger. If his instincts were warning him something was wrong, then there most likely were right.

But still, he entered the house. Because if Tomoko had something in store for him, he rather not prolong whatever it was.

He took another sip of his coffee.

"I have to say, I was really shocked when you walked through my door."

His eyebrows rose.

"Why's that?"

Tomoko's smile grew.

"Because I still can't believe that you have a daughter."

He let out a small grunt. He resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

"You're not the first to think the same."

He had a daughter. What was the big deal about that? Plenty of people on the planet had kids.

He looked towards a window on the far wall to the left. He could see a soccer ball being flung high into the air before coming back down to the ground and out of view. It then reappeared, this time flying even higher than before.

He could faintly see locks of hair done in a bun-shape when he squinted his eyes.

"I don't see why so many people are so surprised when I say I have a daughter."

Joylene was currently playing outside by herself. He figured it would be better for her to get some fresh air as opposed to sitting on the sofa bored out of her mind while he talked to Tomoko.

"Well, I think what really shocks people is the fact that such a cute girl can be related to such a frightening looking man."

He made sure that his face remained in the same stoic front it always had on. Because right now he could feel his lips threatening to turn into a smile.

"Oh? I look frightening? And here I thought I gave off a warm and cuddly vibe to other people."

Tomoko had to bring a hand to her mouth as she let out a short snort.

"Damn it, that was good."

This time he did allow his lips to curl into a small grin.

He had grown to like Tomoko after spending so much time at her house. She was someone who was honest. Someone who wasn't afraid to be blunt. She was the type of person who wasn't afraid to speak her mind when she wanted to.

Which was partially why he felt that something was wrong.

For she had yet to ask a single question about how Josuke was doing.

Usually, she would almost immediately ask if he had heard any word from her son. But he had been in her house for the past hour and she had yet to even mention Josuke. Instead, she had just been asking questions about anything other than Josuke.

This was strange. Tomoko was plotting something.

He took another sip.

And his instincts told him that Josuke's mother knew how suspicious she was acting. That she knew she was setting off the tiny voices in his head that were now warning him.

She was enjoying this. Whatever she was planning-.

"Hey, Jotaro."

Her words interrupted his thoughts.

"Yes?"

He watched as she placed her elbows on the table. Both of her hands rested underneath her chin as she stared right at him.

"I was wondering, what's your wife like?"

Yeah. Something was going on.

He raised a single eyebrow

"My wife?"

Tomoko had asked about his wife before. It was after he had told her he had a daughter. He would say she was surprised when he told her, but a gaping mouth and widened eyes made him feel like shocked was a more accurate description. Back then, he had told her almost everything about his wife and kid. He had answered any question she had.

So why was she asking again?

"I thought we already talked about her?"

Her smile grew just a little bigger.

"Well, yeah, once. But you didn't really go into that many details about her. "

"I didn't notice."

"I mean, I don't think you ever once told me how you two met. Or when you realized you wanted to marry her."

"Is that really important?

Once again, her smile grew. Though this time, there was something there. Something that lingered on her lips before disappearing.

Whatever he had seen looked...almost challenging.

"Well, to me it is. I love hearing about how cute couples meet."

He resisted the urge to narrow his eyes.

His family...he made it rather obvious that he wasn't exactly...good at describing the moments most would gush over. When people asked how they met, he would just sum it up in one sentence.

"I'm pretty sure by now you've realized how bad I am about describing those kinds of moments from my past."

"Yeah, I know."

Tomoko eased back into her chair. She crossed one leg over her knee.

"But I'm really curious to see what kind of a woman could get you to settle down."

She was genuinely curious. She honestly wanted to know what woman could make him...fall in love.

Ugh. Even in his thoughts that sounded overly sentimental.

But there was something else. Slipped in between her words was a steel he had only seen from warriors from his past. And there was something else lurking within her voice. Something that waited patiently, and when the time was right, would strike.

Tomoko had some kind of hidden weapon up her sleeve. And she was only going to use it after he answered her.

He let out a sigh and took another sip of his coffee.

There would be no use in trying to delay or stall her.

He gently placed the cup down on the table.

"We met while I was doing research back in Osaka."

And by research, he meant tracking down some lunatic Stand User.

"She was a tourist from America. The very first thing she asked me was 'Hey, fuckface, do you know where Osaka Castle is?'"

He saw Tomoko smirk.

"Heh. Should've known you'd go after women with bad attitudes."

"Actually, she just misspoke. She knew how to speak Japanese, but it had been a while since she had to use the language, so she was a little rusty in some areas. She almost immediately realized what she said, and apologized to me for being so rude."

He looked up at the ceiling. He could almost see her flushed face, he still remembered that mortified look even to this day.

"Before she apologized, my first thought upon meeting her was that she had a lot more balls than most people I've met."

The smirk turned into a smile.

"And then?"

"Then we went our separate ways. But somehow, we kept bumping into each other."

He knew how, of course. The bastard he was hunting had a Stand with the power of attraction. It could make it so that two objects would eventually find themselves converging with each other. It was no coincidence that he kept running into his wife. In fact, everyone around him kept meeting with people they had bumped into at some point during the day. The Stand's range was incredible, but the only problem was that its user couldn't lock in on his position. So it had to unleash its power throughout the city in order to properly find him.

And one point he had to pummel a building heading to crush him.

"Ahh, like a cheesy romantic comedy."

"My thoughts exactly."

"So, when did she start to melt your cold heart?"

"Never."

She seemed to think that was a joke.

It was not.

"As we kept bumping into one another, we learned more about each other. Even back then, I had to admit that she...wasn't the worse person I had ever met."

"How kind."

"Back then, that was honestly the closest I had ever come to genuinely complimenting a woman."

"You're a true gentleman."

The sarcasm in her voice was thick. There was a mocking gleam in her eyes as her smile grew.

She leaned in a little closer to the table.

"So then what happened?"

"Then, as the day went by, I grew to like her. I wouldn't say I was in love, but I did enjoy having her around. At the end of the day, she had to return home to America suddenly because her mother had fallen ill. So we exchanged information to keep in touch and she flew back to America.

"And what did you after that?"

"I watched some fireworks."

Fireworks caused by him having Star Platinum beat the shit out of the scrawny bastard he had been hunting and sending him flying into a nearby gas station.

The embers from the giant fireball that erupted into night sky were enough to light his cigarette.

"As the years went by, we kept contacting each other, arranging times when we could meet face to face. And eventually..."

He paused. He wasn't sure how to phrase this.

"I figured that she was probably the best women for me to marry."

Tomoko blinked, now looking interested in his last words.

"What do you mean by that?"

"I mean that she was probably the closest thing I could find to my ideal version of a wife."

Her eyes narrowed.

"And why's that?"

He let out another sigh.

This was why he never talked about his love life.

"Because she didn't really have a lot of baggage to her."

Tomoko raised an eyebrow.

"Come again?"

"She didn't really have any issues, mental or physical. She didn't have any drama from her past that may one day come back to haunt her. She had no enemies and had led a fairly morally upright life."

Blue eyes looked straight at Tomoko.

"I enjoy talking with her. Spending time with her. So it wasn't that hard to imagine living the rest of my life with her. I decided that marrying her would probably lead to a family life with little to no issues."

Tomoko's lips turned into a frown as she slowly processed his words.

"So...you wanted a wife who was...low maintenance?"

"That's one way to put it."

There was a beat. Neither he nor Tomoko said anything. The only thing she did was narrow her eyes to slits.

"A wife...who didn't require a lot of effort."

He sighed.

"Yeah."

He was well aware of how that made him look. As if he didn't care about his wife as a person. As if he was just a cold bastard who decided to get married on a whim.

And in all honesty, that statement wasn't that far off from the truth.

He knew that Tomoko would view him in a different light now. After all, to her, it seemed like he had chosen a woman who he knew wouldn't require a lot of patience or care. And to the woman who his shitty gramps left, this would probably-.

"I guess can kinda understand that."

...Huh.

He honestly didn't expect those words.

He raised an eyebrow.

"I figured you'd be a bit mad once I told you that."

Tomoko shrugged.

"Well, I've learned that men have a lot of preferences for women. Some want them to have blond hair, or big tits, or something along those lines. Some want their possible future wife to be nice, loving and caring. But in my opinion, I don't really care what is it exactly about their appearance or personality that makes someone wants to get married."

Her eyes became...distant. They held a nostalgic look as she let out a tiny sigh. She stared at the ceiling for a few seconds, before looking back at him.

"So long as they're happy together, I think that's all that matters. So long as they treat the other right, always be there for each other, I won't care what exactly was the reason that made either person decide to start a family together."

She turned her head to the left, her eyes now staring at the window on the wall. And as she did so, a soccer ball came into view.

"And despite the fact that you're an incredibly cold, borderline unfeeling, person Jotaro...would it be safe to say that your wife...that Jolyne makes you happy?"

"Of course."

He didn't even have to think about her question. His response was immediate.

He cherished them. He was horrible at expressing himself. He absolutely hated showing an emotional side under any circumstance. But he still cared for his family.

For his family...for his wife... for Jolyne... he'd do anything to keep them happy.

To protect them.

"I can honestly say that since I got married I've...changed. For the better."

Tomoko didn't turn around to face him. She just kept staring at the window.

"Would you do anything for them?"

"Yes. I would."

He saw her lips slowly turning into a frown.

"So...in that case, what would you do then...if someone you knew took Jolyne away from you."

He did not respond.

Tomoko's fingers clenched into a fist.

"What would you do...if someone took your baby, the person you've raised, the person you loved..."

Those last words were said in a barely contained growl.

"If someone took away the only family you had...what would you do, Jotaro?"

He could feel the acid in her words. It dripped to the floor, slowly advancing towards him with a vengeful glare.

Tomoko had turned to face him. Her eyes were vicious. Her entire body was tense. It was taking everything she had not to leap over the table to strangle him. To beat the ever-loving shit out of him.

He calmly raised an eyebrow.

"When did you figure out I was lying to you?"

He wouldn't play dumb. That would only make her more pissed off.

"When did I figure it out?"

She laughed. It was incredibly bitter. Her lips moved into a mocking smile as she continued to let out a round of sarcastic chuckles.

"Since the fucking beginning!"

She slammed her hands onto the table as she stood from her chair. The mugs of coffee shook and almost fell over.

"Did you really think I would ever believe that Josuke would ever willingly leave Morioh behind!?"

He saw her fingers curl into fists.

"How stupid do you think I am?!"

He could hear the fury in her voice. She glared at him with a face that would make some of the asshole's from his past wither under.

"When you showed me all those bullshit papers, I tripled check every little thing on them. I called Josuke's school, the colleges, even the professors you listed and they all supported your story."

He knew that. They had all contacted him after they finished talking with Tomoko to let him know she was asking questions. Though, he felt it would be unwise to interrupt her.

"But I knew there was something wrong. Ever since you got here..."

She paused; her fury faded somewhat. Her eyes glanced at the floor as she bit her lip. She was remembering something. From her expression, it didn't look like a pleasant memory.

"Josuke has...changed."

He tensed.

Changed in what way?

"I can't remember anything from July 15th. That whole day is a blank for me."

That was when Enigma had turned her into a piece of paper. When Josuke had turned that bastard into a book.

"When I woke up, Josuke told me that I had collapsed and he had taken care of me the whole day."

Her anger returned. It burned throughout her face as she snarled.

"Back then...I honestly believed him. But now looking back, there was something...different about Josuke."

Tomoko's expression became irritated. Like she had just realized something she should have seen a long time ago.

"He...shit, I don't know how to say it! When he lied, he didn't show any of his usual tells. He acted like nothing was wrong, he gave me that sweet smile of his to try and get me to stop worrying. But...when I think about the look in his eyes..."

He felt his eyes narrow. He remembered the expression Josuke wore after the teen told him he beat Miyamoto Terunosuke and his Stand. Now that he thought about it, his face at that time was similar to an expression he had seen on the high school teen before.

It was almost exactly like the expression he had on after turning Angelo into a rock.

Damn it.

"It was like...there was something wrong with his expression. But...You couldn't tell unless you really looked into his eyes. He pretended everything was alright on the outside, but once you looked into his eyes, you could see. You could see what was going on inside him. It was like there was some...darkness growing inside him. Like it just kept building up and crawled inside him and he didn't even seem to care about it."

Shit.

He should have known. How could he have missed that?

"It was like there was some kind of...dark fire within him."

His lips went from a thin line to a frown.

God damn it.

As she talked, worry became embedded in her words even with all the anger raging throughout her body.

He knew what she was talking about. He knew why it unsettled her.

Because he had seen it too.

A dark fire that threatened to be unleashed at a moment's notice. A frightening rage that would not be satisfied until everything that pissed it off was dead. Despite the flames that made up its very being, the storm of bottomless anger was somehow calm. Precise. It was cold rather than hot.

Because that way, it would tear apart whatever it saw as enemies with accuracy unfit for such a mass of hatred.

Something like that was growing inside Josuke.

Fuck. He should have seen it the moment Josuke told him about Enigma. How did he miss that and only realize it right now?

When did Josuke get so good at lying?

"And...I saw it before too. After my Dad...died."

Tomoko gnashed her teeth together.

And could see Josuke standing over his grandfather's corpse.

"It was a couple days after that. I was trying to be strong for him. I didn't cry, I didn't just sit on a couch and brood for hours on end. I just tried to be there for Josuke. But...one day...when I was making coffee. He..."

She paused. Sorrow began to take over her expression for a moment, but she managed to get control of herself a second later. The sadness faded back into her body as her eyes once again became vicious. She didn't want him to see her vulnerable. Not now.

"He went up to me, and he just stood next to me for a couple of minutes. I asked him what was wrong, and he gave me a hug. And then he whispered into my ear that I've been an amazing mom and told me he loved me."

She glanced at the table. Her voice was quiet now, some of the sadness from before was immersing her words.

"Neither of us had said "I love you" out loud in such a long time. I didn't know what to do. So I just stood there and wrapped my arms around him. We didn't say anything after that. We didn't cry. We just stood there. For how long I'm not sure."

Tomoko's eyes looked back at him. They slowly turned into a glare.

"Just before he hugged me, I thought I saw something in his eyes. I thought I was imagining things back then, but now I know. I know that on that day, that dark fire was there. It wasn't as big back then, but it was still burning."

Her frown got deeper.

"And these changes all happened after you arrived. Since you've got here weird shit has been happening to Morioh. People apparently living after trying to impale themselves on sharp rocks off a cliff only to bounce back up. Someone apparently living inside a giant steel tower. And then there are the people that have gone missing from town."

He frowned.

Tomoko leaned over the table.

"All this weird shit keeps happening, and for some reason, I can't help but feel like you're involved in this mess somehow."

The sarcasm in her voice only rose with every word.

"And then...you tell me, that just as all this weirdness seems to reach its peak, that my son spontaneously decided to become a marine biologist, without ever discussing it with me."

Her glare became harder; her eyes were now furious. She wanted him to regret ever lying to her. The look she had on was similar to the look her son would get when he was truly pissed off.

"I mean..."

Tomoko's voice now burned with fury. Flames resided within every one of her words.

"Marine biology, are you fucking kidding me!? The guy who's scared shitless of turtles wants to go to the place where there's thousands of them!?"

His eyes widened slightly.

He remembered the first time he saw Josuke. He could see the worry engulfing his expression as he picked up a turtle and placed it back into a fountain.

Shit...he forgot about that.

"Somehow along the way, you got  _my_ Josuke involved. And now, something's happened to him. I have no idea what, but I know it can't be good."

She once again slammed her hands on the table. With each second that passed, her anger grew.

"So you're gonna tell me just what the hell's going on. You're going to explain just what the hell happened to Josuke or else I am going to flip this table and kick your God damn ass!"

He had been threatened many times over the years. Most were by enemy Stand Users. Most were people who had a power that could defy what others would consider possible. Tomoko Higashiakta was not a Stand user. She was an ordinary mother. She had no special abilities whatsoever.

But the did not mean she wasn't dangerous.

He had fought against a man that could stop time. A blonde vampire that had broken so many of his bones and had made him bleed buckets worth of blood. Someone who was, to this date, the strongest person he had ever faced.

And the fact that the threatening look on her face was almost as menacing as Dio's told him enough. The fact that every instinct within him was screaming about how dangerous this ordinary mother was let him know one simple fact.

Pissing her off anymore would only lead to a massive headache.

So, he calmly reached for the mug of coffee and took a sip.

And after he finished, for the first time since Tomoko began her rant, he spoke.

"You want the truth?"

There was a hardened edge in his words. It was a voice that had developed after years of fighting. A voice that could intimidate even the most powerful of Stand Users. A voice that let anyone know how bad of an idea it would be to piss him off.

Tomoko Higashikata did not even blink. Her only response to his words was a glare. A glare so angry and vicious he almost felt burn his body.

"Kujo Jotaro, where the fuck is my son?"

He stared right into her eyes.

Slowly placed his coffee mug down.

And told her.

He told her everything.

About why he first came here.

The real reason behind her father's death.

The world lying underneath Morioh that normal people never knew about.

Stands.

How Josuke had dealt with his grandfather's killer.

How he had fought against several people like him.

How he had been fighting against a man even worse than the bastard that killed his grandfather.

...And that he had no idea where her son was.

She listened. She did not interrupt him once. She hadn't even asked a single question as she spoke. Even as he called Star Platinum and had it lift the table they were sitting around into the air to make sure she didn't think he was making this up. Even as he told her about things that shouldn't even exist in this world, she hadn't uttered a word.

Even as he told her that Josuke had disappeared off the face of the earth while fighting a serial killer, she just continued to stare at him with arms resting on the table and not making a single sound.

When he was done, he looked right into Tomoko's eyes.

They were full of rage.

"I'm sure you have questions-."

"No, I don't."

He could almost feel the heat from the fire in those three words.

He slowly raised an eyebrow.

"You have...no questions?"

Then she did something he hadn't expected.

She smiled.

"Well, okay, I do have just one, tiny, little, question."

The fury in her voice grew more blazing with every word. She wasn't doing anything to control her anger as her muscles tensed.

He braced himself.

Because knew what was com-.

Tomoko Higashiakta grabbed the end of the table and flipped it to the left.

The coffee mugs crashed onto the ground.

She crossed the distance between them in an instant.

And she threw a right hook that made his entire head whip to the side.

The strength of her punch easily knocked him off his chair. He could hear something cracking. His hat flew off his head as he crashed onto the tiled floor.

"Are you telling me-!"

She picked him up with one hand and just as he got to his feet she launched an uppercut at his gut. Her fist dug into his stomach as his breath left him.

"That you let Josuke turn someone into a fucking rock-!"

Another punch hit him on the left side of his chest. He was sent a few feet back as he crashed into the wall behind him.

"You allowed him to keep fighting fucking super-powered teenagers-!"

A right cross hit him in his eye. He could feel it start to swell.

Star Platinum was suddenly standing right next to him. He called it back into his soul.

He deserved this.

"You constantly let him risk his life-!"

She punched him right under his chin. Blood erupted from his mouth as he grit his teeth.

"And now, after fighting a god damn murderer-!"

Her knee slammed into his crotch.

"He somehow vanishes from Morioh-!"

Two more punches hit him in his face. He felt his brain colliding with his skull.

"And you-!"

Her punches got stronger. Her fury carried over into each strike. His ribs cracked as she threw a cross that hit him in the center of his chest.

"Have no idea-!"

He spat blood as she punched him in his stomach again.

"Where-!"

His head whipped to the left.

"The fuck-!"

More blood came from his mouth as she hit him with the strength he had only encountered from The World.

"HE IS!?"

She kicked him on his right side. The force sent him off his feet as he crashed to the floor again, his head hitting the ground with a loud thunk.

He let out a groan. He could feel the bruises that began to form on his body throb. The metallic taste of blood in his mouth was familiar. Almost nostalgic. It had been a while since he had gotten beaten this badly. He knew some of his bones were broken. It was rather hard to move without having pain shooting through his nerves.

But he still slowly got onto one knee as labored breaths exhaled from his mouth.

He was honestly surprised that Tomoko wasn't still beating him while he was down. Small mercies he suppo-.

"Why?"

Her voice was different now.

There was still anger burning within it; there was still an inferno blazing throughout every word.

But underneath that, he could hear sorrow. A cold, cruel sorrow.

He looked up.

And saw that there were tears falling down Tomoko's eyes.

Shit.

"What in the hell...were you thinking?!"

She was screaming at him. Unleashing every emotion inside her as she shouted.

"He's just a kid. He likes playing video games on his Nintendo 64. He hangs out with his friends and does dumb shit every teenager does at some point. He likes reading  _Dragon Ball_ and watching  _Sailor Moon!_ "

She brought her arm up to wipe away the tears. But new tears streamed down her face the instant she cleared the old ones.

"He's already been through shit no teenager should have to go through. He grew up without a damn father. He had to listen to people making snide comments about him just because his mom wasn't married. He had to deal with all those shitty bastards looking at him like he was something wrong with him when he was the best damn person in this entire town!"

She sniffled as her sobs became louder.d

"And the fucking crazy part is, he didn't care. He honestly gave no shits as to what those fuckers said. He just lived the way he wanted to. Even when he had so much working against him, he preserved and became a man I know my Dad is smiling at from Heaven."

She glared at him. Even with her tears, she still looked menacing.

"And then you come into his life talking about the Dad he never knew. You come into our town and tell him about this world that he didn't need to know about. You let him get into life and death fights on a weekly basis. You allowed him to turn a man into a rock, which is a fucked up punishment that no one, especially God damn teenager, should ever have to give! And now..."

She was trembling. She had to pause as she swallowed a lump in her throat.

"Now...he's gone. After you allowed him to hunt some messed up  _hand fetishizing_   _serial killer_ who can  _explode_   _people."_

Her trembling got worse. She suddenly looked...frail. A word he had never used to describe her before.

"Why did you let him do this? You've apparently been dealing with crap like this for years, so why the hell did you see a need to drag a high school teenager into this shit? You could have handled this on your own. You didn't need his help. And you sure as hell shouldn't have just watched as he put a man, a scumbag but still a human being, into an inanimate object and just leave him to go insane from doing nothing. And then watch and do nothing as he does the same shit to another person. You must have seen the same darkness I saw. I..."

She placed both of her hands over her face. Her sorrow drowned the room. And with each second, it became more painful.

"I hate the fact that someone as kind as him has apparently had to do something so fucked up. That he keeps going through things that barely anyone could even begin to wrap their heads around. I know that darkness I saw in his eyes had grown, and right now, I'm scared how much he's changed because of it. I just...I want to see my son again and just..."

He could see her tears crashing against the floor.

"Just make sure...that he's okay. That even with everything he's been through... After everything, he's had to do...He's still my Josuke."

She took away her hands from her face.

Tears were still descending down her face. But her eyes were in a glare that could melt steel. They could kill any person they wanted with just a glance.

"Why...why did you do this? why...why didn't you stop him before that darkness grew again? Why did you constantly allow him to risk his life again and again?"

Her eyes glanced to the floor.

"Why didn't he tell me?"

Her voice became quiet with those last words.

Jotaro Kujo was a man had been thrown into many hopeless situations, but this was one of the worse ones yet.

Good grief...crying women...were something he wasn't good at handling. And seeing Tomoko cry made him feel like a filthy bastard.

If Josuke were here, he'd kick his ass to the damn moon for making his mom cry.

He let out a sigh. A bit of blood went down his lips as he did so before he wiped it off.

He slowly stood up, his legs wobbling slightly as he did so, but he eventually managed to get on his feet.

He pushed aside his pain.

And then he spoke.

"Tomoko, on the day you're father died, Josuke was about twenty feet away. Angelo had killed your Dad when he was so close, and he still couldn't do anything."

Tomoko's expression grew more venomous with each word.

"You motherfu-!"

"When I found him standing over his corpse, I could see that dark fire burning in his eyes. He wanted revenge. He wanted to channel his anger into his Stand and beat the ever-loving shit out of the man who hurt his family."

She was stepping closer to him. He could already see she was getting ready to punch him.

"But there was something else I saw."

She stopped moving.

"I saw something I never thought I see from a man who just lost someone they loved."

She was still glaring at him...but he could see she was at least listening to his words.

"...What did you see?"

He saw his hat was on the floor a few feet away from him. He slowly bent down to pick it up as he wiped away any dirt it had gotten.

"Underneath all that hatred...that burning fury...that dark fire..."

He put his hat back on top his head.

"I saw a sense of justice that shined as bright as a diamond."

Even with all his anger, Josuke still hadn't succumbed to the darkness infesting his body. Even when his rage continued to burn within him, he still held onto himself. He wanted to kill Angelo, but that wasn't all he wanted to do.

He wanted to protect his town in the same way his grandfather did. This belief embedded itself into Josuke's soul. And he knew that Josuke would always hold onto that same idea that his grandfather held to the end.

"There was a darkness in him. You're right that I did see that. Hell, he probably still has it. But I also saw a will that wanted to do the right thing. I saw a person who wanted to make sure that no one else had to die like his grandfather did."

Tomoko's glare lessened.

"I won't lie-."

"Anymore that is."

"Some of the things Josuke has done are fucked up. And I'm sure that dark fire gets stronger whenever he does something like turning people into books or rocks. I could have done more to help him deal with that darkness if I was more...open."

Sometimes he really hated just how cold he could be.

"Perhaps I shouldn't have involved him in this. Maybe I could have handled this on my own. I could have told him to leave Angelo to me and to live a normal life. I could have asked him to stop involving himself in this kind of shit at any time. But I didn't. Do you want to know why?"

Tomoko's was no longer glaring at him.

"Because I knew, that no matter what I said, he would involve himself. If he saw some injustice going down in his home, he'd risk his life to put an end to it. The moment he realized just how much evil lurked in his town was the moment he decided he would do anything to stop it."

He let out a long breath.

"Because Josuke has a Golden Spirit. A will to always stand up to the people who want to hurt the innocent. A soul that radiates justice with every step he takes."

He looked into her eyes.

"And in his eyes, there's a righteous fire that will always burn away the darkness within him."

He looked down at the floor.

"Really, he's a lot like me when I was his age."

He wasn't sure if that was a good thing.

He looked back at Tomoko.

She didn't say anything. The only sound he could hear was the slight ringing in his ear.

But slowly, she brought her arms up and wiped away the tears with the sleeve of her shirt.

"That...that does sound like Josuke."

There wasn't any anger in her words. Sadness still swirled within her expression, but it wasn't as large as before.

"I'm truly sorry that Josuke disappeared under my watch, Tomoko. But I know he's alive. There's no way someone like him would die in such a shitty way."

His words actually made her smile. She let out a small chuckle as she finished wiping away the tears.

"Heh...I won't lie, I honestly thought that by the end of our talk I would put you in a body bag."

She probably would have.

"But...you have a point. Josuke...he wouldn't ever sit down and let some jackass do what he wants. Guess he's a lot more like my Dad than I thought."

She glared at him.

"I'm still pissed though...just not nearly as much as before."

"I can understand that."

He really could. What kind of mother would be okay after learning that her son constantly risked his life? That there was some kind of dark fire within him that seemed to be changing him? In all honesty, had someone told him the same thing about Jolyne, he would have done the same thing Tomoko had done to him.

Only he wouldn't be the one throwing the punches.

"You really mean it, right?"

She stopped glaring at him as she took a step forward.

"Josuke...He's out there somewhere, right? He's not-."

"I wouldn't say otherwise unless I was sure."

He could feel his expression harden. He spoke each word with a fierceness that surprised even him. He made it sound like he was stating a fact.

"You'll see your son again."

He adjusted the rim of his hat.

"I should go now."

There was nothing left to be said.

He turned around and began to walk forward. The moment he took a single step, he could no longer ignore his injuries. Pain began to spread throughout every inch of his body. With every movement he made, a bringing ache would grip his limbs. It was getting harder to see out of one eye.

"Wait."

He made about five steps before Tomoko spoke. He turned his head to the side.

Tomoko was looking at the floor. Specifically, the parts that were covered with his blood. And then she looked at his body.

"You...look like you could use some bandages."

He almost sighed.

"It's fine. This is far from the worse beat down I've taken."

Though, it was still pretty bad.

"I'll be fine in a couple days."

"Yeah but..."

She trailed off. She slowly pointed a finger to the left. He followed the direction she was pointing in.

And he saw a soccer ball once again fly into the air through a window.

"I don't think Jolyne will like seeing her dad coughing blood."

He paused for a moment.

"...Good point."

Tomoko let out a laugh.

He was glad she was laughing again. It was a lot better than her crying.

And hopefully, the next time he came over to talk, without any lies this time, he wouldn't be swallowing his own teeth.

And maybe by then...if they were lucky...maybe they'd find Josuke by then.

Hopefully, anyway.  


	12. The Storm

Clouds were the only thing he could see in the sky.

He was riding his bike down a long, narrow road. Countless trees were scattered on either side of him. There were no buildings anywhere in sight; no people anywhere nearby. There wasn't even a single car following him.

It was only himself. Only he and his motorcycle were the ones zooming down the long road.

His black bike continued to speed down the black asphalt. He gripped the throttle as tightly as he could with his leather gloves. With no one around, he could go as fast as he wanted. He didn't have to worry about anyone trying to slow him down.

And he had already wasted enough time.

Behind his pitch black helmet, his eyes narrowed.

He turned his bike as he came up on a slight bend in the road. He felt the wind blow through his new jacket as he once again accelerated. The trees around him started to decrease in number. After a few seconds, he saw that only a few trees remained at this portion of the road. Now, a long field of grass that stretched as far as his eyes could see surrounded him on both sides.

He was getting closer. Just a little more. Just a little more and then that bastard would get what's coming to him.

He saw he was approaching a sign. It was dark blue, planted into the ground by two metal legs. The words written on it were in white. Even though he was going at least eighty miles, he could still see the words on the sign.

_Beach City_

_Next Exit_

_15 Miles_

He stared at the sign. When he passed it on his bike, he turned his head around to look at it. To make sure that he wasn't imaging things.

And when he realized he wasn't, he felt his lips move into a grin.

Soon he'd finally get to Beach City. Soon he'd get to make up for all of his mistakes. And then...

And...then...

He frowned.

No. Don't focus on that. Just...just focus on that bastard. He couldn't worry about..the other things. Not now.

He once again revved up the accelerator. He heard his engine roar as his bike went at even faster speeds.

He could feel his anger once again rising within his chest. Throughout his journey he had tried to calm down. He had tried to suppress his rage. But no matter what he tried, there would always be an ember within him. An ember that would soon become a blazing fire.

Because his rage for one blonde-haired bastard would never stop growing.

And by God...one way or another, that monster was going to die. He would not stop until he saw the bastard's life fade away. Not until he saw every drop of blood exit his body.

He did not know when, but he suddenly realized a purpler aura was covering his entire body.

Just fifteen more miles. Just fifteen more miles...

* * *

"You can't go there!"

Of course not.

Steven knew that would be her response.

"Why?"

He could feel his eyes narrow. His fingers gripped a little harder at the pages of the book in his hand.

He shouldn't have even bothered coming here.

"Because..."

Garnet couldn't finish. Her head moved to the side. Even with her visor, he knew she was looking at the floor.

He looked around at the others.

Pearl was looking away from him. Her eyes fixed on the brown walls of the Beach House.

Amethyst looked at the three of them from a few feet away. He could see curiosity slowly rising in her eyes as she raised an eyebrow.

Lion was laying on the floor a short distance away. He had been napping before, but now he could see the pink beast had one eye open and was looking at them.

And Connie stood directly behind him; he could see confusion wrapping around her face.

Two weeks. That was how long it had been since he'd step foot in the temple. Since he'd really talked to the Gems. In two weeks, everything had changed so much. In two weeks, Beach City had become like a ghost town. His home had never been quieter. Most of his friends had now chosen to hide in their homes. Some were now uncomfortable going out at night even though before they used to love hanging out under the black sky of their town.

Sour Cream's reaction had been the one to stick out most in his mind.

* * *

_"Dude, seriously, what's going on?"_

_There was fear within the teen's expression as he spoke._

_It was six days ago when Sour Cream had come to visit him at It's A Wash. His Dad had left him alone since he had to go buy some stuff for his carwash. He had been sitting inside his Dad's van at the time, the back doors wide open as he just stared. At the sky, the ground or whatever his eyes happened to gaze at._

_"Wha-What do you mean?"_

_His voice sounded so weak._

_"Look... I know...this is probably the worse time to ask you this since someone from your family just...died."_

_He flinched at Sour Cream's words._

_"But...my mom is still missing. And I'm seriously worried, dude. I figured you guys would have found something out by now."_

_Again he flinched._

_"Yellowtail's been spending every second searching for her. I don't think he's even slept since she first went missing. Onion's no better, he's asked his friends to help him vandalize shops and cars to try and find some clue."_

_He didn't know Onion had other friends. Onion had always seemed like someone who didn't interact with a lot of people._ _Was this just another thing he had neglected about the people of Beach City? About his own friends?_

_"And...is she somehow connected to the other missing people?"_

_He felt cold the moment those words had left Sour Cream's lips. His eyes glanced at the floor of the van; he couldn't even bring himself to look up._

_"I've...been talking to people. Mostly to my friends and guys I've DJ'd for. At first, it was just to see if they had seen Vidalia, but along the way, I heard that...other people have gone missing. They told me that relatives who were supposed to show up to their house at some point never did. And apparently, they never returned home either. I...I asked Buck if his Dad knew about this_ , _since he's the mayor and all that, but he said that he wasn't sure. The only thing he could say was that his Dad's been freaking out more than usual."_

_He continued to stare at the ground._ _All those people were going through who knows what right now. All of them probably scared out of their minds._

_And the Gems couldn't help them._ _Not even their own friends._

_"Steven, this has been driving me and my family crazy. Do you have any ideas or clues about what happened to my mom? Or about the other people?"_

_He looked up._

_Sour Cream's eyes were wide. He could see the desperation swirling within his expression. He had never seen his friend look so miserable before in his life._

_He wanted to say that the Gems knew what they were doing. He wanted to assure his friend that they had a handle on this situation._

_But he didn't._

_Because he refused to lie._

_"I'm sorry Sour Cream...but we still don't know."_

_That was the hardest thing he had ever had to say. It would have been so easy to lie. To believe that the Gems were in control._

_But he wouldn't do that._

_Because he wasn't_ her.

_"What?!"_

_For the first time, he heard Sour Cream shout. The teen's eyes became wider, and he could see the shock within them._

_"But...but you're the Crystal Gems! You guys always know what to do when stuff like this happens! You've saved this place from monsters, aliens, and even a giant hand!"_

_They had._ _But, that did not mean they were good at protecting their town. They still had issues. They were broken._

_It was a miracle no one had gotten seriously hurt._

_"Well...this time, we don't know. We have no idea what's going on."_

_Sour Creams shoulders slumped. He could see the sadness swirling within his face. It looked cold._

_"I'm sorry Sour Cream."_

_He wasn't sure if he heard him. Halfway through his words, Sour Cream muttered something under his breath and ran off._

_"I'm so sorry."_

_His Dad had arrived shortly after to see him with tears falling from his eyes._

* * *

And that probably wasn't even the worse day in the last two weeks.

The close second would have to be about five days ago.

* * *

_His Dad said that he was going back to the barn. He wanted to see if there was anything he could salvage after Lapis wrecked it._ _He wasn't surprised to learn that she had done that._

_His_ _Dad hadn't really gotten a chance to see just how damaged the barn was. He had been busy taking care of him for the past two weeks. He had constantly been by his side, except for maybe a few minutes every now and then._

_He had even stayed up with him when he awoke from his awful dreams._

_He asked if he could come too. His Dad was surprised when he said that. He could also see that he wasn't entirely comfortable taking him there._

_He understood. He had apparently been shouting Peridot's name in his sleep. His Dad was scared that if he took him to her now destroyed home it might make him feel even worse. It might make his nightmares all the more horrifying._

_But he had to go._

_That barn represented so many good times he had with Peridot_ _. It was at the barn that she had found a new home, it was the place where she had begun to change That barn was where she went from a cold mechanic to a loving family member._ _It was where she befriended Lapis._

_It would be an insult to her if he didn't show the same respect to it as he had to her. He had to say goodbye to it. If he didn't, then it would be the same as not saying goodbye to Peridot._

_He told his Dad all of this. He was still hesitant, but he did decide to bring him along._

_When they got there, they saw broken wooden planks scattered everywhere on the ground. The water tower that had been lodged into the side of the barn was now in pieces. Large chunks of metal were everywhere on the small hill._ _They saw that was left of the barn had been crushed; it looked like it had been stomped on by a giant. What were once roof and walls now looked like a big pile of shattered wood._

_And there was another man there._ _Someone was laying on their knees right in front of the remains of the barn. It was a man with an olive jacket. A man with brown pants and black boots. A man who wore a cool pilot hat._

_The man hadn't noticed them. He didn't seem to notice anything other than the remains of the barn._ _Even as they got closer to him, he didn't turn around. Even when he asked who the man was, he received no response._

_Then, his Dad spoke one word._

_"...Andy?"_

_That had finally gotten a reaction out of the man. He slowly turned to face them, knees still on the ground as his eyes looked at both of them._

_Eyes that were shedding tears._

_Eyes that when they say him and his Dad widened._

_And then anger blazed throughout his expression. He saw the man...Andy's face become flushed with rage._

_And he could hear the fury inside each word when he screamed._

_"GREG! WHAT THE -!?"_

_He missed the rest because Andy had started to growl. He got up from the ground and walked towards both of them. His anger became bigger with each step he took._

_His Dad had stepped in front of him when he was about halfway towards them._

_"Andy, dude, calm down!"_

_But Andy's rage continued to grow despite his Dad's words._

_"Calm down!? Have you not seen the barn!? The family barn!?"_

_He wiped away at the tears on his face with his jacket sleeve._

_"How could you let this happen!?" How can you call you say you're a part of our family and just, not care about something like this!?"_

_...Wait, family?_

_This man...was a part of his family? A part of his Dad's family? Someone who he had never known existed until now?_

_His Dad kept trying to calm Andy down, but nothing worked. He kept shouting at his Dad, insulting him and not even giving him the chance to speak. His Dad kept trying to explain what happened, but every time Andy would interrupt him._

_And he watched this all from about two feet away._

_"Look, Andy, you don't understand-."_

_"I don't understand!? I understand perfectly! You didn't care about our barn and let it get destroyed! Probably by some no good vandals!"_

_"That's not what happened! I lent the barn to some of my friends-."_

_"So they did this!?"_

_"Well...Yeah, but-."_

_"What kind of friends were these guys!? How did they even smash the barn up like this?"_

_"Well, they're...aliens."_

_That was the wrong word to use._ _The moment his Dad said that,_ _Andy became even more furious. The rage in his eyes exploded._

_"Are you kidding me! You gave up my barn to a bunch of filthy, illegal, trash bags!"_

_He remembered how when Andy said that he bit his lower lip as his hands instantly curled into fists_

_This man just insulted his friends. He just casually called them filthy._

_He called Peridot a trash bag._

_What he felt in that moment was similar to when Mr. Araki had insulted Pearl._ _But Mr. Araki had a reason. Andy did not._ _He suddenly wanted to go up to that man and punch him._

_Except someone beat him to it._

_He had never seen his Dad punch anyone before. He didn't think it was possible for him to ever even consider hurting someone else._

_But the fact that he saw him throw a punch that landed right in the center of Andy's face had made his eyes widen._ _The strength of his Dad's punch knocked Andy to the ground; Andy landed on his back and let out a grunt as he brought his hand up to his nose._

_"What did you do that-?"_

_He didn't finish._ _Because his Dad had reached down and picked him up by the front of his jacket. He brought Andy up so that their faces were only inches apart._

_He had never seen his dad look so...threatening. His eyes were narrowed, his mouth in a deep frown. He could see anger burning in his expression, and with each second it grew. It made him look like someone who wasn't afraid to punch anybody._ _His entire face seemed to get more hateful with each moment._

_He never once thought his dad could look so scary._

_Andy must have thought the same because his eyes widened. Andy did not say a single word and he could see the fear in the man's eyes._

_And to think that it was his Dad who scared this man._

_"Steven, cover your ears."_

_His voice had never sounded so cold. His entire expression was frigid._ _Even though he knew his Dad had never been angrier._

_He quickly obliged._

_There were certain parts he didn't exactly hear on that day._ _But he did not need to hear to know that his Dad was throwing the most hurtful insults he knew. Every time his mouth opened and closed he saw Andy wince. He saw how his Dad kept bringing him closer. The fear twisting Andy's face had leaked into the air. He could feel just how scared the grown adult was of his Dad._

_He would have laughed at the very idea of his dad being frightening a few weeks ago._ _But he had learned just how little he knew about his guardians._

_He had slowly removed his hands from his ears._

_"-And you have the guts to say that in front of my son! That's right, I have a kid!"_

_He pointed at him with one finger. He saw his grip got tighter._

_"I'm sure that right now, you think that it's my fault I didn't tell call or contact you to tell you this stuff! Or that it's my fault I didn't tell you that you just insulted a dead friend of mine! But guess what Andy DeMayo, your such a pig-headed moron that you never listen to other people! If I had told you I had a son, you would have complained about how I didn't marry his mother! Or get upset that I was now hanging out with hippies or something like that! You're always so determined to stick to your "family traditions" you never see the good that going against them can bring!"_

_He never heard his Dad shout at anyone before. Right now, it felt like he was looking at a different person. His Dad didn't have a shred of his usual kindness in his words. He didn't look anything like the man who raised him._

_All he could see was his anger. All he could hear was how scorching his words sounded._

_He never once thought he could be scared of his own Dad._

_"This is why I never call you or anything! It's because you keep wanting things to be the same when they can't be!"_

_He didn't know what to do. He was angry at Andy for his words, but he didn't think he deserved such hatred from his Dad. He didn't know him, but he was a part of his Dad's family._

_That had to mean there was some good in him._

_Yeah. Because you know everything about your Dad. Like how he had other family._

_He...he had tried to push away that thought. He did know his Dad. He wasn't like the Gems._

_He was about to say something, but he never got a chance._

_His Dad pushed Andy back to the ground._

_"Just, get out of here! I don't want to see your face!"_

_He glared at Andy._ _And he could see the rage that blazed throughout his expression, and it almost looked cruel now. He could see all of his Dad's hatred burning within his words._

_This was his Dad? This scary man in front of him? This man who was wearing a big green turtleneck and jeans scared him? The man who always smiled at him was able to make him afraid?_

_He found he couldn't move a single inch from his spot._

_Andy did not move a muscle. He could only lay on the ground and stare at his Dad, shocked. He could see the disbelief enveloping Andy's entire face._

_"I said leave!"_

_His Dad once again shouted. This time he was even louder than before._

_Andy slowly got up. His eyes looked down at the ground as he stood tall._ _And the sadness flooding them was cold and harsh._

_Andy then bowed his head forward, pilot hat now covering his eyes in shadows as he slowly walked towards a plane a short distance away; he couldn't believe he hadn't noticed it until now._

_And then, once Andy was securely fastened and the engines roared to life, he had flown away._

_He and his Dad stood there long after Andy. They didn't say a word. His Dad just stared at the sky. His expression wasn't as scary as before, but he was still angry. His eyes were narrowed, one of his hands curled into a fist. He still looked like he wanted to punch Andy again. Like he wasn't satisfied that he had only hit him once._

_"Dad...what the heck was that?"_

_All of his Dad's remaining anger immediately left his expression the moment he spoke. His eyes widened, as if he forgot he was even here and only now remembered. He slowly turned to face him,_ _lips moving into a frown. He could see the regret enveloping his face._

_"Oh...jeez...I'm...sorry, you had to see that Steven."_

_He rubbed the back of his head with one hand._

_"Dad...you were really scary."_

_The regret grew. His Dad winced as his eyes glanced to the floor. He never thought his Dad would ever be ashamed of something he had done. His Dad always seemed like someone who would make the best choices, someone who would always be kind and loving no matter what._

_But what he had seen..._

_"I...I didn't think you could be scary."_

_His Dad slowly walked towards him before getting on one knee, placing a hand on his shoulder. Brown eyes that looked almost exactly like his stared at him._

_"Look...I won't lie, I lost my temper there. I probably said some things that I didn't need to say. But..."_

_He felt his Dad's grip tighten._

_"When someone insults my family...especially the ones who are gone...there's no way I can keep calm. And...I just...let them have it."_

_He understood that. He wanted to do the same to Andy._ _But...but to think his Dad could do that...someone who was so kind and caring..._

_He looked into his eyes._

_"Have you... done something like this before?"_

_His Dad's eyes glanced to the side, and he saw his frown become deeper._

_"Yeah. I have."_

_He felt something rising in his chest._

_"Why...Why didn't you tell me?"_

_He saw his Dad raise an eyebrow._

_"Tell you...what?"_

_He could feel whatever was within him grinning as it slowly began to move._

_"That...that you had this side to you. That you...that you've punched people before."_

_He could see confusion rising in his eyes._

_"I... I guess I just...forgot how angry I can get. It's been a while since anyone's made me lose my cool."_

_The thing growing within him was now gripping his heart._

_"How can you forget something like that? And, how come you never even told me you had other family? You're always telling me how important family is, but you've never once said you had any brothers or cousins or relatives or anything."_

_His Dad did not expect such questions. His expression was surprised as it looked like he was struggling to find the right words to say. He once again glanced to the side._

_"I...Stu-ball, me and my family...I haven't talked to them in a while. Some of them I'm not exactly on the best terms with. As you just saw, Andy's one of them."_

_"You still should have told me!"_

_He was shouting._

_The thing inside him had now overwhelmed every thought he had. He had finally recognized what it was._

_Doubt._ _Doubt that his Dad was being honest with him._ _Doubt that he wasn't keeping secrets from him._

_Just like the Gems._

_His Dad's eyes widened._

_"Woah, Steven, there's no need to shout."_

_"Why didn't you tell me about your other family?"_

_He lowered his voice, but he was still far from calm._

_"I just told you why."_

_"Is that really the only reason?"_

_"Wha-Yeah."_

_"Well, then-."_

_He stopped._

_He remembered what his Dad said before._

_"You...you called him Andy DeMayo...not Andy Universe."_

_His Dad's eyes widened again._

_"You were listening?!"_

_He ignored that question._ _There were more important things to talk about._

_"Why is your last name different from his? Why is my name different from his?"_

_"Steven, this isn't a big deal."_

_"Yes, it is!"_

_He was shouting again._ _His Dad let go of his shoulder._

_And he was glaring at him. At his Dad. At the man he loved._ _At someone who seemed to be...keeping something from him._

_"Just answer the question!"_

_His Dad was shocked. He didn't speak. He could only stare at him._

_The only thing he could hear around them was the soft blowing of the wind._ _Then, after a minute, his Dad let out a long breath. He held out his hands in front of him in a calming gesture._

_"Okay...Okay, I'll tell you. When I started my music career, I realized that having a name that sounded like a condiment wouldn't exactly help me become a rock star. So, I decided to change it after the coolest sounding thing I knew. I signed a couple of papers, paid a few hundred bucks, and just like that my name went from Greg DeMayo to Greg Universe."_

_He stopped talking. T_ _here was only silence that followed._

_Until after a few minutes, he decided to speak._

_"...Why didn't you tell me any of this?"_

_His voice was a lot calmer than before. It was barely above a whisper, but his Dad still heard it._

_"I...it just slipped, Steven."_

_It...just slipped?_

_There was no way. No one could just forget about their family. Especially not someone who was supposed to be loving and caring._

_"Are you...lying to me?"_

_Lying. Something he never thought his Dad was capable of. The thing the Gems excelled at._

_His Dad's eyes went wide._

_"What? Of course not!"_

_His Dad once again placed a hand on his shoulder. He saw how his eyes softened as his lips moved into a thin line._ _He could hardly remember the last time his dad looked so serious._

_"I'd never lie to you."_

_It looked like he really meant what he said. It seemed like he wasn't lying. And h_ _e wanted to believe him. He really did._

_But after everything he had learned about his family..._

_"Then you really just forgot? There was no other reason?"_

_"I..."_

_His Dad let out a sigh._

_"Okay...maybe...forgot is not the right word to use."_

_"Then what word would you use?"_

_He felt his eyes narrow._

_"I guess...it's more like I did remember but..."_

_"But?"_

_His Dad's eyes glanced from side to side, contemplating what words to say._

_"I...I guess I just didn't see a need to tell you."_

_He stopped breathing._

_He suddenly found himself sitting on a decaying porch._ _And he saw a blonde man wrapping an arm around his shoulder._

"People often use many excuses for keeping secrets, and some might actually make sense. But they're just using these excuses to make it seem like their reason was just. Secrets are secrets, Steven. Their things that no one wants anyone else to know. So they'll lie in order to keep them. Even from family, the people you're never supposed to keep anything from. They might say things like 'I don't know you very well' or 'It's just something I have to deal with alone,' but once again these are lies they tell themselves so that way the dark mysteries surrounding them aren't exposed to others."

_The next words he recalled froze him to the spot._

"The most common excuse people give others for lying is 'I didn't see a need to tell you.'"

_He could feel fear grip his throat. Could feel it consume him. It made his heart hammer against his chest._

_He found himself shaking slightly._

_If...if his Dad was using this excuse...for something this small...what else was he keeping from him?_

_Was it...something similar to what the Gems had did?_

_Something like what_ she  _had done._

_"Steven...you're trembling."_

_He hadn't noticed that his Dad was right in front of him. He saw the worry in his eyes. It was a look he been seeing a lot lately. Whenever he awoke screaming from a nightmare. Whenever he could see Peridot exploding right in front of him again in his mind as he let out a scream._

_"Are...did I say something wrong? Do you want to talk about it?"_

_No. No, he did not._

_"Can we please leave?"_

_His Dad's worry seemed to grow the moment those words left his lips._

_"Are...Are you sure? I... I thought you wanted-."_

_"Please, Dad?"_

_He could hear how weak his voice sounded. How frail those two words were; like they were made of glass._

_His Dad stared right into his eyes. He didn't say anything for a while, he just stared at his face._

_After a few minutes, his Dad let out a sigh._

_"Okay."_

_And then they left. Without him saying goodbye to the barn. To Peridot._

_The only thing he could think about on the way back was how his Dad had lied to him._

_About how he was probably still lying to him about who knows what._

* * *

The past two weeks had been the worst of Steven's life.

The Gems hadn't gotten any closer to finding out how or what exactly was kidnapping the people of Beach City. When they had visited him at his Dad's carwash they told him that what they were hunting was most likely not a Corrupted Gem, but instead one of Homeworld's soldiers. Not that it mattered if it was a Homeworld soldier or a Corrupted Gem doing this.

Because people were still going missing. Somehow, the number only went up. Ever since...Peridot exploded, it seemed like more and more people were disappearing. The Gems kept failing to protect the people of Beach City. No matter how much they patrolled, people somehow vanished. Some of them were tourists. Others people who lived here but he had never seen before.

Before he might have said it was because Peridot's death made it harder for them to protect their town. It had an obvious effect on them. Whenever they visited him, they always had on frowns. Garnet looked even more stoic than she ever had before, he hadn't seen Amethyst smile in two weeks, and Pearl...was about as sad as whenever she remembered something about  _her._

But now he knew better. Now he knew just how badly their flaws caused them to fail at their one job.

Though...he wasn't doing that much better keeping his town safe or moving past Peridot's death. He kept having nightmares. Most were about Peridot. About how he kept seeing her explode. How he should have been able to save her when she was only a few feet away. But he didn't and all he could do was stare at the burnt remains of her Gemstone in his hands.

All he could do was cry as he watched his friend die. Sometimes he could see her when he was awake. Could hear her scream as tears fell from his eyes.

And he had other dreams too. And one of them always made him terrified. Fear would always strangle him whenever he had that dream. His horror would always smile whenever he screamed and awoke in a cold sweat.

It...it was always at night. There would be no stars out. No people. And there'd be a faint smell he could never identify drifting in the air. He would wake up in a town he had never seen before. The buildings looked kinda like the ones he seen in Beach City, but there was something...off, about them. He couldn't tell what, but even though they looked similar to his town's own buildings, there was some difference to them. Something that seemed obvious, yet he could never tell what exactly.

He would wander alone through the unknown town. He had no idea how long exactly he had been in the strange town; the only thing he knew was that as he kept traveling, the night seemed to get darker. With each step he took, it was harder to see what was around him. He could barely even see himself through the darkness.

But no matter how dark it was, he would always find it. No matter how much time he spent aimlessly walking, he would always end up at the exact same spot.

He would find himself in front of a house. He could never tell what exactly it looked like, but to him, it felt...different from the other buildings.

There would be a bright light coming from one of the windows near the bottom of the house. It would light up the darkness around him, and he could see a lawn of trimmed grass that led to the window.

He stepped closer to get a better look. He could hear the grass crunching underneath his sandals. With every step, the light seemed to get brighter, so bright he couldn't make it out anything about the inside of the house.

But...he could see someone standing near the window. He couldn't make out a single feature of the person, but he could see a shadowy outline standing inside the house.

But every time...every time he got about a few feet away from the window...

_It_  would appear.

He always felt the air around him become cold just before. His entire body would tremble. His heart would come to a stop.

And then a hand would grip his wrist.

He could feel it looking at him without even turning his head. Without even making a sound, it had already gotten so close to him.

With just its presence, it was able to make him terrified. He could feel the malice that made up every part of its being. Could feel it grip his very soul.

His trembling grew worse.

And the light from the house faded away.

He didn't want to turn around. He wanted to run. To never look back and just keep running until he was as far away as possible from this thing.

But he couldn't move.

And something always made him turn his head. Some force always made him look at the horrible monster.

It made him stare right into its eyes.

Those cruel pink eyes. Eyes that easily crushed any sense of control he had over his body. The monster in front of him barely even acknowledged him. Like he was just dirt. As if he wasn't even worth its time.

The monster would then lift its thumb up.

And as it brought its thumb back down, its pink eyes would become even more hollow. They would make the fear within him drag him into an abyss. A place where he couldn't even scream for help.

And when its thumb made contact with its hand, there would be some kind of...clicking sound.

And then he would wake up screaming. His body would feel exhausted, like he had been punched a hundred times over. His eyes would be wide as he scanned every inch of his Dad's van to make sure it hadn't followed him. Even as his Dad hugged him and tried to calm him down, he could still feel that monster's grip on his wrist.

And he still felt those pink eyes glaring at him even when he awoke. The only thing he could ever remember about that monster's appearance would keep him up for hours to come.

His nightmares, the people still going missing, and the things he had learned about the Gems made these last two weeks absolutely horrible.

If it weren't for Mr. Araki and the talks he had with him, he wasn't sure how he would have survived. It was the only good part of the last two weeks. Telling someone who would listen to him, who viewed him as himself, eased the weight that had been settling inside him. It was only slightly, but talking to the blonde businessman made him feel...refreshed.

It was probably because he was so kind. Kind enough that he got him to admit the truth about the Gems.

"Because why?"

Garnet still didn't answer.

He felt his fingers twitch slightly.

"Well?"

He once again looked around the room. With the exception of Connie, who still looked confused, no one seemed willing to talk.

He didn't even know why he was talking. He wouldn't get answers.

Not from them.

"Steven..."

He turned his head toward Pearl. She was still looking down at the floor.

"It's...complicated."

"Then explain it."

His voice was firm. He could hear just how sharp those three words were.

Pearl quickly picked her head up to look at him, surpised. She hadn't been expecting his words to sound so harsh.

"Steven?"

He could hear the confusion from that one word.

From the corner of his eye, he could see Connie glancing at him.

"If it's complicated, then just explain it."

He could see Pearl hesitate. Her eyes once again flickered to the floor before looking back at him. He could see how uncomfortable she was with his question.

But he didn't care.

"I...Steven..."

She trailed off.

"What Pearl means is that we...don't think the answers you're looking for will be there."

Garnet's voice was a lot quieter than it usually was. He turned to face Garnet and saw her slowly walking towards him from the Warp Pad before stopping a short distance away.

He frowned. What a surprise, another vague answer.

"It's a palanquin. One that looks exactly like the one from my dreams."

For some reason, in addition to his other two dreams, there was a third that was not as recurring as the first two.

He kept seeing a gigantic pink palanquin in the middle of a grassy field. There would be pink flowers, types he had never seen before, planted throughout the field. The palanquin itself had grass completely covering the left side of its body. Like it had been there for years and nature had decided to work around it.

The strange part was that even these dreams brought him to tears. But he never saw anything upsetting in those dreams. He never saw his friend dying. He never saw the monster. There was nothing but that pink palanquin. Yet, he always awoke with tears in his eyes whenever he had that dream.

He was...sad whenever he had those dreams, but it was different. It wasn't the normal cold and piercing sorrow he felt whenever he saw Peridot exploding. It wasn't the same grief that flooded his body when he relived that moment.

This sadness felt like...it wasn't his. Like...the sadness belonged to someone else.

This weird dream was something completely new. Something that he couldn't even begin to understand.

So he asked Mr. Araki about it. He had already told him about his other dreams as well as so much other stuff. So maybe he could help him with this one.

Unfortunately, this was the one thing he couldn't offer much advice on. So, since Mr. Araki couldn't help him, he asked the only other person he could.

Connie.

At first glance, she seemed to be taking...everything surprisingly well. The first time he saw her since Peridot died was about ten days ago. Peridot's death had affected her, he knew that. She didn't smile as much. The few times they had hung out there would always be an awkward silence when they both couldn't figure out what to say. And he had to be blind to miss the sullen looks that crossed her face whenever she something that reminded her of Peridot.

But she still offered to be by his side whenever he wanted to talk. She hugged him whenever it looked like he was about to cry. She tried her best to support him.

But he did not miss the bags under her eyes. He did not miss how her hair, usually well kept and neat, had a number of locks standing out.

She was being strong for him. Even with all her pain, she still did her best to smile. She put up a front just to try and make him feel better.

He was truly thankful for her efforts.

But...he was now regretting how willingly she had been to help him.

When he told Connie about his dreams, she remembered something similar had been written in Buddy's journal. So they went to rent the book, and within seconds they found a hand-drawn image of a palanquin that looked exactly like the one from his dream.

"I think they'll be some answers there if you take me."

He knew they wouldn't.

Even with Garnet's visor, he knew she was staring at the brown planks of wood on the ground and not at him.

Connie had been the one to suggest he ask the Gems if they knew about the Palanquin. She didn't know he had moved out of the temple and into his Dad's van. He hadn't told her because he didn't want her to ask any questions. He wasn't sure how she'd react if he told her that the Gems weren't what she thought they were.

He had tried to subtly steer her away from this idea, but nothing worked. She was adamant about going to the Gems.

To help him, even if it was only slightly, get better by solving the mystery of that palanquin.

Too bad they wouldn't get any answers.

"Steven, dude, maybe now's not the best time."

Amethyst took a few steps closer to him. She rubbed a hand through a hair as her one visible eye looked to the floor.

"What with everything going on and stuff."

He might have considered that the purple Gem had a point. That leaving Beach City now was probably reckless.

But right now, that just sounded to him like an excuse. Just another "reason" the gems avoided telling him stuff.

"It shouldn't take that long. I mean-."

He stared right at Garnet and Pearl.

"You two seem to know where it is, right?"

He saw Garnet's right hand visibly twitch.

And he could see Pearl flinch.

"We...we do."

Garnet said those words like she was having her teeth slowly removed.

That was probably the only honest answer he would get.

"Then you should be able to take us there in a second with the Warp Pads, right?"

Another twitch and flinch from the two of them. This time though, Pearl glanced at Garnet.

"Steven...you really shouldn't go there."

Pearl said her words as carefully as possible. Choosing the best sentence that would get him to drop the subject.

It was too bad he wouldn't do that.

"Why?"

Pearl looked at him like she couldn't comprehend why he was asking such a question. Like she was shocked that he was pressing this subject.

"I-we...I mean-."

"It's just important that you don't go there."

Garnet interrupted Pearl's stammering as she took another step forward; he could see her lips turn into a frown. She was trying her best to get him to stop asking questions without revealing anything.

Like they usually did.

This was pointless. He should just stop asking questions. They wouldn't ever answer them. He should just pretend that he accepted their vague answers and-.

"Trust us, Steven, that place belonged to someone whose cruelty you'll be able to feel a mile away. It's no place for-."

"You mean Pink Diamond."

The words left him in an instant. He hadn't even thought about them, he just automatically spoke when he heard Garnet's words.

This time Garnet visibly flinched the moment he spoke. And Pearl's hands turned into fists as she looked away from him.

Pink Diamond. The person his mother shattered. One of the many secrets they kept from him. With just a mere mention of her name, the Gems would clamp their mouths shut.

It was another secret they wouldn't tell him anything about.

_"One day Steven, you're going to have to confront the Gems."_

Those words echoed in his mind.

And he suddenly wanted to continue talking.

"That's what this is about, isn't it?"

They made no response. He glanced to the side and saw Connie taking a step closer to him. Amethyst raised her brow again, but whether it was at him or to Garnet and Pearl, he couldn't tell.

"You don't want me to go there because if I do, I'll find something there about her. Won't I?"

Why was he even questioning it? Just by their reactions alone, he already knew the answer.

"No, that's not why."

He raised an eyebrow at Garnet's word.

"Then what is it?"

"Just please don't go."

"If you don't want me to go then just tell me why."

"It's...Complica-"

"You already said that."

Garnet looked surprised that he interrupted her. Pearl seemed to share her feelings as he saw her eyes widen for a second before going back to normal size.

"Steven...what's wrong?"

Connie whispered into his ear. He could hear the worry in her words; she had never seen him be so harsh to his guardians before. It was confusing to her.

He didn't answer her. Instead, he focused on the Gems.

"If you really don't want me to go, then just say why."

"Steven..."

Pearl's voice was barely above a whisper as she spoke. She didn't even look up to face him.

"I...we...you shouldn't go there. That woman's palanquin-."

"So it does belong to Pink Diamond."

Pearl flinched again. This time it was bigger than before.

"I...I didn't-."

"I've been seeing Pink Diamond's palanquin in my dream."

"It's not-."

"Every time I see it for some reason I cry my eyes out."

"You wha-?"

"Every time I have that dream, I feel sad. And that sadness gets added up to all the other horrible things I've been feeling ever since Peridot blew up right in front of me."

No one said anything after that. It was so quiet that anything could break the silence. A breeze. A creak from the wooden floors. But his voice was what ultimately ended the hush surrounding the room.

"If I find this palanquin, then maybe the dreams will stop. Maybe I'll have one less thing to lose sleep over if you just show me where it is. "

He could hear the edge in his voice. He never heard his words sound so demanding before.

He saw Pearl tremble. She kept glancing at the floor and then back to him. She looked like she was close to panicking.

She had never looked more cornered in his entire life.

"Steven, stop."

Garnet voice had a noticeable sharpness to it now. It was hard, like she was delivering an order.

"You're making Pearl very upset."

"I don't care."

He had no intention of following her commands.

His words had an immediate effect on everyone.

Garnet let out a gasp. It was short and shrill, but he still heard it. Pearl was shocked, eyes wide as her head whipped around to stare at him. From the corner of his eye, he could see Amethyst slap a hand over her mouth, her one visible eye bulging.

And Connie stared at him like he was some new person standing in his place.

"Steven, what the heck?!"

This time her whisper was a lot harsher. Her words were frantic, trying to understand why he was acting like this.

He still ignored her.

He pointed a finger at the drawing in Buddy's book.

"Tell me where this palanquin is. Now."

His voice was low. He made sure they could see just how serious he was being. Every word he spoke held no anger or sorrow.

They were just cruel. They held a weight that made the air in the room become heavy.

Pearl was gaping at him, Amethyst silently mouthed "Dude" as she slowly backed away from him.

He could also see Connie take a few steps back. There was...fear in her eyes. Fear born from  _him._

He...he couldn't focus on that.

"Steven...Be  _very_  careful of what you say next."

Garnet words were spoken in a voice that was even more stoic than usual. He had heard that tone from Garnet before. It was the voice she used whenever she was barely holding herself back. From losing herself to the emotions she usually kept buried.

"Oh, I'm sorry for just asking questions."

His voice was still very quiet, but he made sure Garnet could hear the sarcasm in it. It dripped from every syllable. He made it obvious how insincere his words really were.

He took a few steps forward.

"I just want to know why you guys are so determined not to take me there."

Garnet stood in front of Pearl. The light from Garnet's visor made it impossible to see her face. But he didn't have to see her face to tell what she was thinking about.

The slight shaking of her right hand made it obvious.

Let's see how many more vague answers you can give before you run out.

"You're upset. I understand. Peridot's death...hurt us all. But you take out your pain on others."

Really. She was telling  _him_ that.

Not Amethyst.

Not Pearl.

But  _him._

The grip on the book in his hand tightened.

"That's not why I'm upset. I'm upset that you guys aren't even giving me a reason as to why you won't take me to Pink Diamond's palanquin."

Another twitch the moment he said that name.

The tense line her lips were in morphed into a deep frown.

"We're not going there."

She didn't deny the palanquin was Pink Diamond's.

"Why?"

"Because the answers you think are there won't be there."

"How do you know that."

She paused. Her head moved to the side as she bit her lip.

"Future vision."

Yeah right.

"Then what's it telling you?"

"I can't say."

"Yes, you can."

"No, I can't."

He could feel his frustration rising to his chest.

"How do you even know your future vision is accurate? You see hundreds of timelines, so how do you know the one you're seeing is the right one?"

"I just do."

"Are you kidding me?"

He could hear how fierce his words were. His lips were in a deep frown as his eyes were now glaring at Garnet.

"That's your best excuse?"

The anger in his voice rose. And every bit of anger was directed at Garnet, the person he used to always look up to.

He could hear Pearl gasp. Garnet's frown got deeper. Angrier.

Amethyst and Connie now took a few steps closer to him.

"Steven..."

"Dude, seriously, you need to calm down."

Connie's voice was apprehensive. She hadn't ever seen him like this. She'd never seen him get angry at his own guardians. Sure, at his enemies, but never the Gems.

Amethyst's voice was softer than he ever thought was possible. It tried to calm him. To ease his stress. And before, her words might have worked.

But after what he learned, all it did was sound patronizing to him. It made the anger burning within him all the more powerful.

"Can't you even give me a good reason for not taking me instead of vague answers?"

"We can't go there."

He could hear the anger rising in her voice, her monotone slowly fading away.

It was the same voice she used when she asked him to give him back Lapis' mirror.

He gnashed his teeth together.

"Then just give me a reason."

"I have."

"Vague riddles aren't reasons."

He took another step forward.

Garnet did the same.

"That palanquin is dangerous."

"So dangerous that you can't give me one good answer?"

He felt the anger burning in his eyes.

Garnet's hand slowly curled into a fist.

"Steven-."

"So dangerous that even if there was a chance I would stop dreaming about it and stop feeling sad you still wouldn't take me?"

She stopped talking. Her mouth clamped shut again.

He took this as an opportunity to once again look around the room.

He could see Pearl covering her mouth with both her hands.

He saw Amethyst eyes flicker between him and Garnet.

And he saw Connie staring at him. He could see the shock in her eyes.

"We're not going."

Garnet spoke again. The anger in her voice was stronger now. And he knew that she was still holding back. That she was only just able to stop herself from shouting.

"Just tell me why."

"Because..."

She looked at him. The anger in her voice began to fade.

He could see her eyes behind her visor. All three of her multicolored pupils had sorrow within them. He could see regret beginning to flood her expression as her frown became melancholic.

"Because...I'm asking you, Steven. Please don't go there."

Before, he would've considered her words.

Before, he might have actually stopped asking questions.

But not today.

Not after he learned how horrible they were. After reliving all the times they had hurt him and realizing just how messed up his 'guardians' were.

He wasn't going to be left in the dark. He wasn't going to take another vague response as an answer.

He'd had it with their lies.

"That is not a reason!"

For the first time, he shouted. And his words had an immediate effect on everyone.

Garnet visibly recoiled as she took a step back.

Pearl once again gasped. She looked like she had just been punched in the face.

Amethyst moved the hair covering her left eye as she gaped at him.

And Connie's eyes widen to the point that he thought they might bulge out of their sockets.

"You guys always do this!"

He took a few steps forward.

"Just tell me! What the heck does this palanquin have to do with you guys!?"

The fire in his voice grew. He knew that right now, his anger was more vicious than anything the Gems had ever seen from him before.

"Steven!"

Connie's voice. He could almost see the worry within it.

"Dude, I think you might wanna stop while you're ahead."

Amethyst's voice now. Without even turning around he knew how serious her expression was. She wanted him to stop. To stop asking questions. To stop pressing the issue.

Well, she was in for a disappointment.

"It's obvious it has something to do with you guys, so just tell me what it is!"

Pearl took a few steps off the Warp Pad. Her head kept moving from him to Garnet.

"Steven, Garnet, let's not-."

"Steven, just stop!"

Garnet was shouting. She took a few steps forward and was now only a few feet away from him. Both of them were now standing underneath the archway that led from the living room to the Warp Pad.

"We're not going! It's pointless to keep asking!"

"Just tell me why you won't take me and I'll drop it!"

He glanced behind him and saw Connie and Amethyst approaching him and Garnet.

"Guys, let's just take a breather." Amethyst put her hand up in a placating gesture.

"Yeah, what she said. There's no reason to fight." Connie tried to sound as diplomatic as possible.

Too bad her words had the opposite effect on him.

"Yes, there is!"

He didn't turn around to face them. He was about to back down from Garnet for even one moment.

"What is it about Pink Diamond you don't want me to know about!? What's at that palanquin that you're so scared of me finding out!?"

Garnet let out a small growl. She had never experienced this. None of the Gems had. Never had he'd been so stubborn on one thing. Never had he actually questioned their vague responses.

Never again would he be so naive.

"That place will only lead to trouble!"

"Trouble for who?! For me or for you!?"

Around him, the others began to move closer to them.

"Guys, please."

He could hear how desperate Connie was with just those two words.

"Seriously, let's just stop before it gets worse."

Amethyst was trying to be the voice of reason; to get him stop asking questions. She was failing miserably at both things.

"Steven, Garnet, let's not do anything we'll regret."

Pearl was trying her best to stop their fighting. To get him to drop this subject all-together.

But he wouldn't. Not now, not ever again.

The anger within him was becoming more violent with each second. It was slowly consuming his His every thought.

He knew his glare had never been any fiercer.

"It's because of  _her_ isn't it? It's because I'll find something there that'll reveal something about  _her_ mistakes?"

Pearl's eyes widened.

Connie looked confused again.

Amethyst bit her lip as her eyes went back and forth between him and Garnet.

And said "leader" was responding to his glare with an equally fierce look.

"Steven-."

"That's why you won't tell me. Because of  _her._ Because of what  _she_  did to Pink Diamond, that's why-!"

"Enough!"

Pearl stepped in between the two of them as she shouted. She spread her arms out wide as both her hands pushed against his chest and Garnet; she had to lower her body slightly in order to touch his much shorter body.

"Garnet, Steven, this is not the time!"

Her head turned towards Garnet.

"We have enough problems to deal with, and I highly doubt adding infighting to the list will help us in any way!"

Garnet actually flinched at her words. Pearl rarely spoke in such a harsh voice to the fusion. She never had such an angry expression on her face as she talked to her "friend." He could hear how intense each word she spoke was. She was truly mad at the both of them.

But he knew most of her agitation was directed at him. Just because he was asking questions.

"And Steven-."

She turned her head to look at him. The anger slowly disappeared; sorrow began to take its place as she frowned.

"That place...Rose never wanted you to go there."

...He should've known.

"But...That doesn't mean she's...what you think she is..."

She trailed off.

You mean a murderer? A cruel woman who didn't care about the lives she ended?

Both of his hands were clenched into fists.

"Your mother was so kind Steven. She...she made the best decisions she could...even during a war, she always made the right choices. No matter the circumstance."

Killing Pink Diamond was kind? The best decision? Pearl honestly believed that even after she did something like that, Rose was still a good person?

He was shaking now.

"She...she might have done things others might see as...bad. But...you have to know that she..."

Remorse swallowed her expression.

"She loved us..."

She looked right into his eyes.

"She loved you."

That lie again.

That same awful lie. The same lie they kept telling him every day.

That a horrible woman like her cared about him.

That someone who left so many issues unresolved would ever love someone she didn't even know.

He saw her smiling face from that video she gave him.

His gem glowed a soft pink.

And hatred blazed throughout his entire body.

_One day Steven, you're going to have to confront the Gems. It doesn't have to be today, it doesn't have to be tomorrow or even next week. But when you do decide to confront them, as you should, I need you to promise me one thing._

He could see Mr. Araki's house. He could feel that worn and dusty chair he sat on when he went to talk to him. His smile was so bright. It let him know that he had a friend through all of this to help him out. Mr. Araki's words kept echoing in his mind, but the last thing he said to him before he left for the day stood out the most.

_Promise me that when you do confront the Gems, you let them have it._

That last phrase was the only thing he could hear.

As his shield formed on his right arm.

As he saw everyone's eyes go wide.

As he turned on his heel and threw his shield.

And as his shield spun through the air before it hit its target.

The painting of Rose Quartz that hung on the wall.

His shield hit the portrait of that woman right in her smug face. Wood chippings were flung into the air as his shield dug into the painting. It cut through whatever material made up the painting with ease.

His shield faded into pink sparkles once it completely cut through painting and hit the wall behind it. And now there was a large slash right where her face used to be. Through the cut, he could see the wooden boards that made up the wall were now crushed.

And everyone around him looked at him in shock.

Connie had brought her hands to her mouth.

Amethyst shouted, "Oh sh-!" She stopped herself short just before she finished the word.

Garnet had her mouth hung open

And Pearl looked like she just had seen her world crumble right in front of her. The sadness she radiated was almost palpable.

"Steven, what the-!?"

"Dude, why'd you do-!?

"Steven that was very-!?"

All three of the Gems were shouting at him. All three of them had a variety of emotions in their voice. Shock, outrage, sadness, confusion; he could hear it all in every word they screamed.

Connie was the only one who remained quiet.

Before he might have been intimidated by their words. At their shouts. At all their emotions being aimed right at him.

But he didn't care. For his anger was only growing with each second.

"Shut up already!"

They all backed away.

His words carried a scorching hatred as the fire within him blazed throughout his expression. And with eyes that had never looked more vicious, he glared at every one of the Gems.

He had never been madder.

He was sick of it all. Of the lies. Of the secrets.

Of everything.

He wasn't going to take it anymore!

"Of all your lies, that's one of the worst!"

The Gems took another step back.

"What are you talking about?"

Confusion was present in every word Amethyst spoke. And that made his anger so much worse.

"You seriously expect me to believe that Rose Quartz ever loved me!?"

His words pierced everyone.

Pearl's eyes were wide.

Garnet gasped.

Fear slithered into Amethyst's expression.

Lion looked fully awake now.

And Connie had placed both of her hands over her mouth again as she stared.

"...What?"

Pearl's voice was so quiet. That one word she spoke was immersed with disbelief.

But she knew what he meant. They all did. Even they weren't that stupid.

"You heard me!"

He stared at that awful painting on the wall.

"You really think I'll believe that Rose Quartz  _could_ love me?! Someone like her who shattered people, a cruel woman like her could care about someone she had never even met!?"

The moment he said cruel, everyone let out a gasp.

"Steven, that's wrong!"

Garnet was shouting now, and her voice had never been louder.

"Rose gave up her existence just for you! She was willing to sacrifice herself just to give birth to you! She loved you from the bottom of her heart!"

Oh, how selfless. If only that were true. If only that wasn't just another lie to make Rose look like a better person than she was.

"No, she didn't!"

He looked at the book in his hand.

"I keep learning things about her..."

Horrible things. Dark things they'd never wanted him to learn in the first place. Secrets even they didn't even know she had.

"She's done things that are absolutely horrible."

Another wave of gasps filled the room. Some of them were more intense than before.

"People were after her. They still are to this day."

He looked down at...his gemstone. It wasn't hers. It was his and no one else's gem.

"She only gave birth to me...as an escape from her mistakes."

He glared at the Gems scattered throughout the room.

"That's it. That's the only reason I exist!"

"No!"

Pearl screamed as her eyes went wide.

"Steven, you can't...do you really think that Rose only gave birth to you because she wanted to escape?"

His only response was for his frown to get deeper.

Pearl took a step back in shock.

"Steven, dude, that's not it at all!"

He could hear the fright in Amethyst voice. He had never seen the purple Gem looked so scared before.

"Rose loved you, man! She had you because she wanted to be something new! Homeworld had nothing to do with why she did what she did!"

"Well, it should have!"

Amethyst clamped her mouth shut and took a step back. They were all looking at him like he had said something unbelievable. Like he what he said was dumb.

He let out a growl.

"Are you seriously telling me that Rose thought it would be a good idea to leave when Homeworld still had it out for the earth?!"

The Gems didn't have a response. All they could do was glance at one another.

"When there are hundreds of Corrupted Gems still wandering the earth!?"

"Steven-."

"When she knew that Homeworld would come back one day to finish her off?!"

He wouldn't let Pearl interrupt him. He wasn't going to be silenced.

"Are you telling me that with all this stuff going on, she never once thought maybe she should deal with these problems before dying!"

They all flinched. Though, not because they thought he had a point; he would be an idiot to think that.

They flinched because he said Rose was dead. Something they'd never admitted before. They refused to admit that one simple fact.

Rose was gone.

And he wasn't her replacement.

"Steven, Rose didn't carelessly choose to have you!"

Garnet's voice was firm. Each word she spoke showed no signs of hesitance.

"She only decided to have you after making sure that we could protect Beach City. She trusted that we could protect it and the earth in her place once she left us."

Really?  _Really,_ Garnet?

"So even with all your issues, she thought you guys could protect the town?"

He had expected the silence that followed his words. The Gems all tensed. Amethyst bit her lower lip. Pearl looked down at the floor. Garnet gnashed her teeth together.

They were obviously uncomfortable. Why wouldn't they be? They never openly talked about anything. But the thing they were especially tight-lipped about were their own issues.

"Did she even once try to help you guys?"

He looked at Amethyst.

"Did she ever once consider how her leaving would make you hate yourself all over again."

She winced. She suddenly looked away from him as she rubbed the back of her neck. He had hit her right where she was most vulnerable.

He then looked towards Garnet.

"Or how you might not be ready to suddenly look over a team?"

Her fist clenched. She never admitted that she had doubts about her own skills as a leader. But he could so many times when it was obvious she had no idea what she was doing.

And then he looked Pearl.

"Or how your love for her might make things a little complicated when she 'gave up her physical form.'"

Pearl's eyes were wide. Before she was tense, but now she was still. She did not move. She did not even twitch. She could only stand perfectly still as she looked right into her eyes.

The regret within them was cold.

"Enough!"

Garnet stood in front of Pearl. Fury was blazing through every inch of her face, Garnet no longer doing anything to control her anger. But it was different than usual. Normally her rage wasn't so heated, but this was a new type of anger. An anger born from his words.

Words that were the truth.

"Steven-!"

"Oh, I'm sorry are you mad!?"

His voice held even more anger than before; it made it clear that he was far from done.

Garnet's fury was no match for his own. She stopped talking as he glared at her. At all of them.

"Are you angry that for once you actually have to  _talk_ about your problems!?"

He snarled.

"That instead of relying on me to help you through whatever issue you have, you guys actually have to talk about them out loud like adults!?"

They all winced. He could see them remembering those times. Times when he had to be the one to help them out. Times when he had to be the voice that guided them through their problems.

Even though they never did the same for him. Even when he was dealing with his own problems, they only ever focused on themselves.

"Well I'm sorry, I just figured that women who are thousands of years old would be mature enough to-!"

"Steven, please stop!"

Connie's voice actually made him pause.

He looked at his friend. One of the few people he could say never lied to him. One of the people he truly cared for looked at him like she didn't recognize him.

She looked like she was scared of him.

She didn't know what was going on. She had no idea about all the things he had learned about the Gems. To her, it looked like he had been mean to the Gems for no real reason. He shouldn't have minded how fearful her words sounded. If she knew the reason why he was shouting at them, then she wouldn't have spoken at all.

But still...her words made him stop.

"Steven..."

He turned his head to look at Garnet; she was staring at the floor now as she struggled to continue.

"I...you're right."

He blinked.

They were...agreeing with him?

He looked at Pearl and saw the regret in her face. He then looked at Amethyst and saw remorse swirling in her eyes.

"We can...sometimes put you into...situations a child shouldn't have to worry about."

Oh.

They were only agreeing with that part. Not about what he said about Rose.

"But...we don't mean to do that. We..."

She trailed off.

Don't mean to do that?

Did she mean like how she and the Gems didn't mean to constantly make him feel like he wasn't good enough? Like how they kept reminding him that he'd never live up to the perfection that was Rose Quartz?

Mr. Araki's words once again echoed in his head.

_Let them have it._

"But...we love you and-."

"That's your worse lie."

There was a rumbling outside. It sounded like the beginnings of thunder.

And that was the only sound in the room.

They didn't gasp once they heard his words. They didn't scream any denials the moment he stopped speaking.

They just looked at him. And the massive horror he saw on all their expressions was tangible—he had never seen any of them look so scared.

"...What?"

Garnet asked a question.

She actually asked a question. He had never heard her ask a question once in his life.

"Dude...do you..."

Amethyst couldn't finish. There was a pain within her words. It grew worse with every syllable she spoke. Her voice was quivering. It sounded so small. So...frail.

"Steven..."

Pearl looked like her heart had been crushed. Even though her voice was barely above a whisper, the sorrow within it still wailed throughout her every word. He could almost feel her melancholy. It suffused itself into the room and made the air around them cold.

His eyes glanced at the floor for a second before they quickly returned to the three Gems. And once again, they were back in a glare.

"You don't love me."

This time there was a gasp.

And it was from Connie.

The Gems didn't say anything. They couldn't say anything. They all looked like they had their hearts ripped out and then sliced to a thousand pieces.

"You just love Rose Quartz."

Their jaws dropped.

The moment he said those words, their horror became so much stronger.

"And that's all you see me as. A replacement."

A replacement for their wonderful leader. A boy who they could shape to make their vision of what Rose Quartz was a reality.

"WHAT?!"

Pearl was screaming. Her voice was raw with so many emotions. Fear, Sorrow, confusion all mixed within her words.

"Steven that's not true!"

Pearl's eyes were once again wide.

"Of course we love you, man!"

He could hear the panic in Amethyst voice.

Garnet still hadn't said anything. She could only twitch.

And for a moment a pink glow began to cover her palms.

"Why would you think that!?"

...Why would he think that?

"Are you seriously asking me that question!"

Where they really that blind?! That stupid?!

"I can't count how many times you've called me Rose!"

Pearl's jaw once again dropped in shock. She stood as still as a statue.

"Or how often you talk about the times you had with her and you act like she's right here in my place!"

Amethyst looked like she had been punched by Jasper.

"Or how you talk about how one day I'll grow up to be just as amazing of a leader as she was!?"

The glow on Garnets hand began to spread. It was covering parts of her arm now.

"You all treat me like I'm her! You don't view me as my own person! You've just been molding me into your ideal vision of Rose!"

He gripped his gemstone.

"I am not Rose Quartz!"

"We know that!"

Garnet had stopped the glow on her arms as she shouted.

"Steven, we don't think your Rose! We know that! We love you, not Rose!"

"Then why do you always talk about her perfect she was every five seconds!"

He gnashed his teeth together.

So many times...

"Why do you always remind me about what Rose would have wanted or how loving she was whenever we go out to stop a Gem monster or something!"

So many times they kept mentioning that awful woman.

"How is it that you always talk about her-."

Why couldn't they see what he saw?

"And yet never see how much I hate it when you do!?"

His next scream was louder than any before it.

"How do you not see how much I _hate her_!?"

He said it. He finally said it to them.

The room once again became quiet.

And outside he once again heard the sound of thunder rumbling.

The Gems before looked like their hearts had been crushed. Now, it looked like they had a thousand knives plunge into their bodies.

Their pain was that intense.

And he knew because he could feel it. He could feel all the sorrow flooding their face. He could feel the horror slicing away at them from within.

...He had expected this kind of reaction. But...it was still-.

"Steven..."

Pearl was the first to speak. Her voice was so weak.

"We... we didn't know-."

"That's just it, you never realized one simple fact!"

His growls became feral.

"You never realize anything! You constantly just think about yourselves and that's it!"

"What?"

Amethyst shock somehow grew.

"Don't act so surprised! Do you want me to count how many times you've done something that hurt me or someone else!?"

He lifted a finger.

"Like how you transformed into my dad's dead wife right in front of him just because you felt bad!?"

Amethyst eyes became wide.

He lifted another finger.

"Or how you almost let me fall to my death just because you found out something  _a little bit_ upsetting about Rose!?"

Pearl's jaw dropped.

"Or-."

"Steven, that was in the past!"

Pearl was the one who shouted. Even though she looked like all her breath was stolen in one instant, she still had the strength to shout. Though, her voice was shaky. Her eyes glanced to the floor and he saw so many emotions taking shape in her expression.

"We...we made mistakes, but we've learned from them. We-."

"You have a crush on a woman that looks exactly like Rose and you say you've learned from your mistakes?"

Pearl stopped talking.

He knew just how sharp his words had been. And they easily pierced Pearl's weak argument.

The ivory Gem had never looked so lost in her life. He had never seen her so hurt in his entire life.

The other people in the room could only look at him in shock.

"I...I..."

He looked towards Amethyst.

"You say you're over hating yourself yet when I fused with you to make Smokey I could literally feel your self-loathing."

Amethyst couldn't respond. She could only stare at the floor like her life depended on it. She knew he was right. She couldn't deny it when he had literally been a part of her.

"This is why I'm sure you guys don't love me."

His 'guardians' flinched. They looked like they were about to say something, but he wouldn't let them. For once, they were going to listen to him.

"Because you keep lying. To me, to each other...to yourselves."

Mr. Araki helped him realize that. He helped him see just how messed up his family was.

Too bad they didn't seem to realize it.

"You can't even see how horrible you are."

His voice was quiet. It held no anger, no sorrow, or anything. It couldn't have been louder than a whisper.

Yet they all heard what he said.

Pearl had tears brimming in the side of her eyes.

Amethyst looked like she had seen her world break right in front of her.

And the terror he saw in Garnet's face he had only seen once before.

When she had been beaten by Jasper on that beach.

"Steven that's-!"

Amethyst began to shout something but was she was interrupted by Garnet.

"Steven we do love you!"

Her voice had a tremble in it. The quiver in her words was like when they had encountered the experimental fusions underneath the Kindergarten.

"I...we've had our problems but that doesn't mean they make us view you as someone you're not!"

She looked at the ground.

"We should have realized how you felt, and we're so sorry for that."

Yeah, you should have.

"But you need to know that Rose loved you just as much! That even with all the things that might make her seem horrible-."

"You mean like her shattering Pink Diamond?"

Garnet stopped talking immediately.

"You expect me to believe you, to believe any of you when none of you will tell me what she did to Pink Diamond."

Garnet clenched her hands. He swore he heard something cracking.

"How can I trust you when-?"

"Yes."

He stopped.

He didn't know when, but all of his breath had left his body at some point.

The room was once again deathly silent.

"Garnet!"

Pearl's hiss broke the quiet. He could see the shock in her expression as she stared at their 'leader.'

"What are you-!?"

"It's true. Rose Quartz shattered Pink Diamond."

...Huh.

He...he really didn't think she'd tell him. He didn't think that they'd ever tell him about Pink Diamond.

He was honestly shocked.

His eyes slowly moved to the book in his hand.

"So...it's true then? Everything the Rubies said about her?"

Garnet stared right at him.

"...Yes. What they said was true."

He heard her let out a breath.

"I...I thought about telling you after we rescued you from space but..."

She had never looked so...conflicted before.

A pink glow surrounded her visor, and in the next second, they were gone. He could see her eyes now; there was sorrow drowning each and every pupil.

"I'm truly sorry that we didn't tell you the truth. It's just..."

She let out a sigh.

"The Gem War...it's a time none of us wish to relive. Rose...Rose did have to do things she didn't want to do but...if she didn't, then hundreds of Gems would have died."

He knew that the war was bad. He wasn't an idiot. He could imagine all the lives lost in the violence. And...the Crystal Gems had been at the very heart of it, most likely.

"Steven...Rose was loving and kind. We're not lying when we say that. And we're not lying when we say that we love you. But you have to understand that..."

She looked at the ground. She was remembering something. What, he was not sure.

"Sometimes...doing the right thing means being willing to do whatever is necessary to accomplish it. No matter how cruel it may seem to others."

There was nothing but silence after she finished.

He slowly digested her words. Doing the right thing meant sometimes being cruel? That...that couldn't be right. How could a cruel deed be right? That sounded like that if a cruel deed by some miracle did something good, that automatically made the person right.

Like it erases the bad the cruel deed caused.

And then he remembered that night on the beach. He remembered her tears. Their faces.

...And that mirror.

Anger rose to his chest. It slowly became more powerful with every moment.

His eyes slowly turned into a glare.

And then he spoke.

"I dare you to say that to Lapis."

The moment he said that, the silence from before returned.

And somehow it was emptier than last time.

* * *

_"Lapis, please stop!"_

_With her-...with the pink shield in one hand, Steven slowly continued his ascent up the hill._

_The blue Gem did not respond._ _Instead, she just stared over the edge of the hill._ _She stood perfectly still on the giant hill at the edge of his town and watched as her creation wreaking havoc on the Gems._

_Hundreds of feet below, when he glanced from the corner of his eye, he could see that dragon attacking the Gems. It unleashed a torrent of water from its mouth as all of his guardians scrambled to dodge it. The jet of water was enough to pierce the sand and leave a large hole in the ground visible from even here._

_He heard it roar. Somehow, even without a throat, it could roar._

_And he could hear its distorted call even from hundreds of feet up._

_He took another step closer; he was maybe twenty feet away from Lapis._

_And she still had yet to face him._

_"Lapis...this won't bring her back."_

_She didn't even twitch at his words. S_ _he just continued to stare over the edge of the hill and looked down at the Temple below. Her dark blue hair blowing in the wind._

_"I...I get you're hurting. And I know the Gems-."_

_He stopped._

_He knew what? That the Gems were awful? That they were liars?_

_That they...deserved this?_

_He shook his head._

_No! No one...absolutely no one deserves to..._

_"I get you want to hurt them after everything they've done-."_

_"No."_

_It was the first word she spoke to him, t_ _he first real response he had gotten from her._

_And that one word had so much coldness it made an eerie chill run up his spine._ _Lapis' voice had never sounded so...empty before._ _And that worried him._

_"La-Lapis?"_

_She didn't respond. The only sounds he could hear were the Gems cries and the faint roar of her dragon._

_"What do you mean...'no?'"_

_"I mean, I'm not doing this because of what they did to me."_

_Her voice was quiet, and the low tone she spoke in seemed to make her words all the more venomous._ _The icy void that each word she spoke carried made him step back._

_And in between her frigid words...there was an all-consuming hatred. A rage born from Lapis' desire to want to destroy anything that made her feel so...broken._ _But...he didn't know what-._

_"I want to get rid of it."_

_Her words interrupted his thoughts; t_ _hey sounded even emptier than before. The ice within them had become so much more deadly._

_"Get...Get rid of what?"_

_"The Temple."_

_He could see her point a finger down towards said temple._

_"Just the Temple. That's all I want to get rid of. Not them."_

_That...Confused him._ _The Gems he could understand her wanting to destroy._ _But the Temple?_

_"Why the Temp-?"_

_"Because it was her third favorite thing."_

_Her words somehow became colder, and even from behind her back, he knew just how cold her expression was._ _With just her words, he knew how unfeeling her eyes must have been as she continued._

_"The first was the barn, but I already took care of that. The second was... A tie."_

_He would have asked a tie between what, but he stopped himself._ _The frigid hatred her voice held made him realize just how bad of an idea that would be._

_"But I couldn't destroy either of those things. So, I moved onto to the third thing. I told them I just wanted the Temple, but as usual, they didn't listen to me."_

_The silence that followed was suffocating. The only sounds he could hear were the faint cries of the Gems and the roar of the dragon._

_"You know, it's kinda funny."_

_Her words interrupted the silence. The ice that exited her mouth as she spoke was worse than before. It was absolutely freezing as his body shivered._

_"When I told her what happened to me, she said that if I didn't want her going over to the Temple there anymore, then she'd stop. But I didn't. I told her I didn't mind and that she could go wherever she pleased. It was obvious she liked hanging out with you. Whenever she wasn't with me, she was at that Temple. So I couldn't tell her to stop going there. She grew to like the place I could only hate."_

_He listened to her every word. He didn't dare interrupt._

_For a while, he could only hear the sounds of the dragon shooting water at the Gems._ _Then, he spoke._

_"Lapis...please stop."_

_He made his voice as gentle as he could. He made sure each word he spoke held nothing but care._

_He needed to help her._ _His feelings didn't matter right now._ _All that mattered was helping his friend._

_The one person who hadn't hurt him like-._

_He shook his head._

_"This...you know this is wrong...that it isn't what she would want."_

_She didn't respond. She just stood silently and looked over the edge of the cliff._

_"Please...I get your angry...but destroying the places she loved won't stop your pain. And fighting the Gems isn't gonna help either. You-."_

_Lapis interrupted him before he could finish. The coldness of her words wrapped around his body, turning his blood to ice. He suddenly felt like he was swimming in freezing water._

_"Say, Steven, can I ask you something?"_

_He knew from her frigid voice that regardless of his answer, she'd still ask._

_"What is it?"_

_"You really_ love  _them, right?"_

_He could hear the cold rage in her words; and h_ _e paused._

_He...he didn't know how to answer that._ _Not after everything he learned just ten minutes ago. He couldn't even begin to sort his feelings out right-._

_"Well?"_

_Lapis voice brought him out of his thoughts._

_"Why are you asking me that?"_

_That was the only thing he could think of to say._

_Lapis did not respond. Instead, she seemed to take a moment to consider his words._

_He could hear the dragon roar again._

_It sounded louder than before._

_"Because, why else would you be here? Why else would you want to protect them? It's because you care. And if someone you care for is in trouble, you'll always come to their rescue."_

_The dragon roared again. When he looked down, he saw it was attacking the Gems even more viciously than before._

_"You care about them...but what if I told you something that would make you stop caring?"_

_She let out a small growl with those last words._

_And he froze._

_He thought back to his talk with Mr. Araki._ _About what he said about Lapis._

_Specifically...about the mirror._

_...Did they really-._

_"What if I told you something that would actually make you kinda glad to see them suffering? That it'll make you almost...happy that things turned out this way. Because honestly, seeing them fighting like their lives are on the line...is actually making me feel a lot less awful. I kinda wish I thought of this before."_

_He remembered Mr. Araki's words._

_The Gems were bad but...if they did what...that... then..._

_They truly would be horrible people. No...they'd be worse than horrible._

_"But what could I know about them that could possibly stop you from loving them? I mean, they tell you everything, and it's not like they've ever done anything bad? It's not like they got some random Gem involved in a war she wanted no part of."_

_The sarcasm in her voice was just as cold as the ice in her words. It radiated from her every word and pierced him as his entire body became cold._

_Mr. Araki's words kept echoing in his mind. Words that made him realize just how horrible his guardians._

_Words that made him realize that they had, and could, hurt so many people._

_He spoke his next words in a hushed voice._

_"...Are you talking about the mirror?"_

_The dragon hundreds of feet below let loose a roar that hurt his ears even from so far below._

_And Lapis whirled on the spot to face him._ _Bloodshot blue eyes met his brown._

_"Yes, I am talking about that_ fucking  _mirror!"_

_He had heard curse words before. He hung out with teenagers. He lived with Amethyst._ _He knew curse words._

_But this was the first time he had heard a curse word hold such pure fury._

_Looking at her, he could see just how long Lapis had been crying for. Could see all her pain. Her misery. Her sorrow. He could see every horrible emotion killing her from within._

_And he could also see a fury unlike any he had seen before burn within her eyes. It was dark, blacker than any anger he had encountered from anyone. Right now, Lapis was only one step away from unleashing her hatred on anything she saw._

_And currently, he was the only thing in her vision._

_He could see tides crashing against the edge of the hill. Hundreds of feet up, water somehow made it to the edge of the hill._

_"Do you know why I hate the Crystal Gems!?"_

_The waves once again crashed against the cliff._

_"Do you know how I'm beyond sure that they left me in that mirror to rot!?"_

_Her rage exploded like a bomb every few seconds; he could feel the relentless fire within her words._

_"It's because I fucking begged them to let me out for thousands of years!"_

_He heard her dragon roar._

_And once again waves crashed into the side of the cliff. This time he felt drops of water pelt his skin._

_The moment he heard her words, he felt his heart stop beating._

_But it only lasted for a second._

_A bitterness entered his body. It laughed at him, and between the laughs, it told him he should have expected this._

_His eyes glanced at the ground._

_And he really should have._

_"Thousands of years..."_

_His eyes widened as he immediately remembered the situation he was in._ _He looked up._

_And he could see Lapis' body trembling as s_ _he looked down, bangs covering her eyes in shadows._

_"Thousands of years of being in a mirror. Of being stuck in a prison where you can't move and can't see anything unless it's out of a damn piece of glass!"_

_She clenched her hands into fists._

_And the dragon once again roared. He could hear Pearl shouting something._

_"Everyday was a nightmare! After the war ended I was just thrown on to the ground with my gem cracked! That pain...that agony was worse than anything you could ever imagine!"_

_He didn't have to._ _The rage in her words made it clear. The icy hatred that leaked from her voice told him enough. He could feel it choke him. Could feel it slam into his stomach as he took another step back._

_The pain embedded in her every word let him know just how much she had suffered._

_"And then they come, and when they picked me up I thought that this was it! That I finally be free! But instead-!"_

_She looked up and glared at him._ _The animosity in her eyes was absolutely terrifying. She no longer looked like Lapis he knew. Not the blue Gem he had gotten to know ever since he rescued her from Malachite._

_Now, she looked like someone who wanted to drown the entire planet. The threatening look on her expression was scarier than any of the times Jasper tried to look intimidating. Fear smothered him from within as he couldn't look away from her eyes. It swallowed him as Lapis' anger grew._

_She looked even scarier than Mr. Araki did when he was angry._ _Because her anger was like a monsoon. An unstoppable force of nature._

_"Instead, those...bitches left me to rot! Even when every day I begged them to let me out! Even when I replayed image after image explaining what happened to me, they did nothing! I did it until I reached a point where I couldn't play anything for a while, but even after all that they didn't do anything to help me! They didn't care at all!"_

_He saw her eyes widen, practically bugling as_ _she brought both of her hands to her face._

_She suddenly no longer looked scary._

_"Thousands of years of being stuck in that mirror! Thousands of years of begging even though I knew it was useless! And I can remember every single day of that torture!"_

_He saw her fingers digging into her skin._

_"You'd think I would just...stop thinking or something but no! Instead, the only thing I could do was think! About how I would never get out! How I'd be stuck here even though freeing me would have been so easy!"_

_He had never seen Lapis look so...haunted. She was reliving every day of that horrible experience right in front of him. Every second of pain living in that mirror caused came back with a vengeance. He had never seen the blue Gem look so hurt. Like she was about to poof and go back into her Gem at any second._

_It was absolutely awful seeing her in such a state._

_But then she brought her hands back down. And her eyes were once again in a vicious glare._

_And the dragon let loose a roar that could be heard throughout Beach City._

_"I didn't tell you any of this before because I could see how much you loved them."_

_Her voice was far quieter than before._ _And that made it so much more deadly._ _He could feel his body getting colder with every second._

_"I figured telling the guy who saved me the truth about them would crush you. And I couldn't do that. At least..."_

_She turned around and looked over the edge._

_"Until now. When it's their fault she's dead. When it's because of them doing such an awful job at protecting the only thing they care about that she got shattered. At this point, you need to know just how badly their mistakes can hurt people."_

_But it wasn't their fault._ _It was his._ _He had been right there and he couldn't do anything._ _The Gems had nothing-._

_Come on, be honest. You think the Gems are more at fault than you're letting on._

_He heard that voice again. The voice he heard while talking with Mr. Araki. The same voice that kept reminding him about how horrible each Gem really was._

_The voice that kept telling he needed to listen to his doubts and not ignore them any longer._

_"I never got why you thought they were so...kind."_

_The disgust in Lapis' voice was enough to bring him out of his thoughts._ _She turned around to face him._

_And he could see cold anger once again rising in her eyes._

_"So...what do you have to say to that?"_

_He didn't respond._

_He should've been hurt hearing Lapis confirming that the Gems did know she was in the mirror. He should have felt his heart crumble as he realized that they had ignored her cries and just left her there._

_But all he felt was...Numb._ _It wasn't the same kind of numb he might have felt if he was shocked._ _This numbness was born from him being exhausted. I_ _t was from him being tired of hearing all the awful things the Gems had done in the past. From him imagining them smiling at his face as they lied about the cruel things they hid from him._

_He once again heard the same voice that had been reminding him of every horrible thing the Gems had done whispering to him. Once again he realized just how cruel his 'guardians' really were._

_He let out a sigh._

_"Nothing."_

_Confusion began to envelop Lapis' face the moment he said that. The anger faded slightly as she stared at him in disbelief._

_"Wha-What?"_

_"I said, I don't feel anything."_

_He wanted there to be some sort of emotion in his voice._ _But all he heard in his words was a hollow emptiness._

_And that disturbed him._

_"Are you..."_

_The anger returned. It was not cold like before. Instead, it was searing._

_From below the dragon let loose another ferocious roar._

_"Do you not believe me!? Do you think-!?"_

_"I believe you."_

_Again, his voice held no emotion whatsoever._ _And that seemed to make Lapis even angrier._

_"Then...why aren't you mad?! Or sad?! Why aren't you telling me I'm wrong or that they're not like that?!_

_Because he didn't have the strength to be outraged._ _Because he wasn't shocked that they did that._

_Because..._

_"Because you're not telling me anything I don't already know."_

_The Gems were awful._ _Anything Lapis told him about them would just add to that fact._

_Shock overwhelmed the pitch black fury in her expression. She took a step back._

_"You...you knew?"_

_He nodded._

_"They...they told you?"_

_"No."_

_There was a sharpness to that one word. He suddenly clenched his hand into a fist and-._

_He shook his head._

_Not now._

_He made sure to speak his next words without any harshness to them._

_"I just...figured it out with some help."_

_He let out another sigh._ _The pink shield on his arm faded back into nothing._ _And he looked right into Lapis' bloodshot eyes._

_"I'm sorry."_

_The confusion on her face grew, now engulfing most of her expression._

_"For...for what?"_

_"For never really considering your feelings."_

_He only just realized that fact now, but he never did try to get to the bottom of her issues._

_"After you told me what happened to you, I thought I finally got where your hatred came from. That you were just mad at what Homeworld did to you and you just took out on the Gems. I thought that you were just upset that they never realized you were there."_

_He looked to the ground._

_"But I was just...being an idiot. I should have known you hated them for something other than a misunderstanding. If I had just...asked basic questions to them I might have found out sooner."_

_He should have pressed them more on the mirror on that night at the beach. But he had been a fool. He'd actually believed them without a second thought._

_Never again._

_"And I was...happy you had decided to stay at the barn. I thought that maybe that meant you were taking steps to overcome your anger. But there's no way you could stop hating them after what they did."_

_He could somewhat relate to her feelings._

_"And then I basically forced you into a friendship with a woman who trapped you on a giant hand-shaped spaceship. I was so stubborn on getting you to like her because I could see just how badly she wanted to be your friend. But I never took the time to consider how you'd feel about it. I just thought it would be good for you to make another friend that I was blind to the turmoil she had probably cause you to go through."_

_Why hadn't he seen just how bad of an idea it would be to try and make Lapis sleep in the same place as the woman who had imprisoned her?_

_"I'm so sorry, Lapis Lazuli. I'm sorry I never tried to really understand where all your hatred came from. And for forcing you to interact with the people who kept you as a prisoner."_

_He had messed up so badly._

_It was quiet. He didn't hear the sound of her dragon roaring. He didn't hear the sound of the Gems fighting the water creature. He didn't hear anything._

_There was only silence on the hill._ _And then, Lapis broke it._

_"Steven..."_

_He heard her voice quiver._

_He looked up._

_And he saw that she no longer looked confused. She no longer had any fury blazing throughout her expression._

_Now, she just looked...ashamed._

_"You...you are the absolute last person who should apologize to me."_

_She looked at the ground. Her fists were once again clenched._

_"You were my first friend. You stood up to the Gems for me. Even when you just thought I was a mirror, you still...cared about me when no one else did."_

_The quiver in her voice grew, her words were so shaky. There wasn't even a trace of the coldness that was once present in them._

_There was only sorrow._

_"You helped me make a friend...the person who had thrown me into another prison would have never been my first choice but...you somehow got me to care for her."_

_He could see the sadness from her voice move its way to her face._ _Tears began to build up in her eyes._

_"And because of you, I met someone as...amazing...as her."_

_The tears began to fall down her face._

_"Damn it!"_

_She fell to her knees as she sobbed. Her hands covered her face as she tried to wipe away the tears._

_He slowly walked over to his friend and gave her a hug._ _He felt her finger dig into his back as she returned it._

_"I'm sorry."_

_Her words were quiet. This time they had none of the ice from before. They weren't deadly. They weren't even angry._

_They were just drenched in regret._

_"I shouldn't have said that to you. I...I wanted to hurt you just because I felt bad."_

_Lapis had just summed up how his guardians treated him in one sentence._

_Stop it! Now wasn't time for...that stuff._

_"I just...damn it...I miss her. This pain's even worse than when I was in that fucking mirror."_

_He could see the grief in her body leak into the air. It was immense; he could feel it with every breath he took in. Lapis had never been more hurt._

_Losing Peridot broke her. A thousand years in a mirror couldn't do it. But losing one friend did._

_"I...the only place I can call a home died when she did. "_

_He could feel her tears beginning to stain his jacket._

_"I...I don't know what to do."_

_Neither did he._

_He had no idea what to do. About the Gems...about her..._

_His mind was a blank._

_But...he needed to think of something. He had to find a way to deal with both of these problems._

_"Maybe...you should try and find a new home."_

_"What?"_

_Lapis stopped hugging him. She pulled her head back as she stared at him with eyes full of tears._

_It was the only thing he could come up with._ _It was the only thing he could see that might have a chance of helping her._

_"Beach City...has turned into a place...with too many bad memories. It's not fit to be your home."_

_It had always been more like a test for her. To see if she was comfortable with the idea of living here. And since her friend had just died here, right in front of her face no less, he doubted she could ever feel happy here ever again._

_Not to mention the fact that the awful people who trapped her in a mirror also lived here._

_"You...you should try and find a new place to stay...somewhere that'll make you happy."_

_"But we tried that."_

_"Well...we only visited a few places. And like I said back then, the earth has changed. There are so many places you haven't seen yet. There's so much beauty here. You're sure to find someplace that you can call a home."_

_Lapis looked down._

_"I...I don't know. If I left...then I'd also be leaving the last friend I have."_

_He knew that. But...if there was even a chance that this would help Lapis, she should take it._

_The melancholy in her expression began to fade. There was anger in her eyes now, and he could see it growing with each second._

_"And...I'd never get a chance to do get revenge on the thing that did this to Peridot."_

_He knew she'd eventually say something like that._

_"Lapis..."_

_His voice was as calm as he could make it. The anger vanished from her eyes in an instant. She stared right at him with her tear-stained face._

_"Right now, I think you shouldn't worry about getting revenge. I think what's more important is finding a place where you can be happy. Even if it's away from me."_

_"But-."_

_"We-I can take care of that thing. I'll make sure to make it pay for what it did to our friend. You're not in any condition to fight."_

_He couldn't even begin to imagine the damage she could do to Beach City. In her current state, she might accidentally submerge the town in her quest for vengeance._

_"And it doesn't even have to be permanent. If you can't find a home, then just come back to me. We'll try to find another solution then."_

_Lapis didn't say anything. She just stared at him._

_It was once again quiet on the hill._

_"Maybe...maybe you're right."_

_She stood up and looked over the edge of the hill._

_"I...I don't think this place is for me. Too much history. Too many memories."_

_He heard her sigh._

_"And...one of the few good things I found here is gone so...it's a lot less appealing now."_

_The sorrow in her voice was cold. It grew with each word she spoke. It told him about the pain that was still running rampant within her._

_He glanced at the floor._

_"I...I really think this is your best option, Lapis."_

_He really meant that._

_"...Well then..."_

_She turned around to face him._

_And he could see droplets of water that made up her tears beginning to converge on her back. And more droplets from the now wet blades of glass floated into the air and quickly began to do the same. They collided with each other and began to create a new shape._

_Within moments her signature water wings were completed._

_"...I guess this is goodbye."_

_And then she flew off._

_Once she was gone, he had stayed on that hill for a while. He just stared at her flying form until she eventually disappeared from his sight._

_The Gems eventually came up to the hill. They were dripping with water as they ran up to meet him. They had asked him what had happened._

_But he didn't answer them._

_He couldn't even look at them._

_He didn't even know what to say to them after what he realized. He couldn't even think of anything to say when he saw them approaching him._

_Instead, the only thing he could do was walk down the hill. When they asked him where he was going, he said to his Dad's van._

_Pearl had asked him how long he was going to stay there._

_His response was this:_

_"A while."_

* * *

The Gems didn't say anything. They couldn't say anything. They'd never thought he would learn the truth about what they did.

And that was just one of their secrets. He couldn't even imagine what would happen if he learned more.

His frown got deeper.

"You knew she was there...You all knew, and choose to do nothing."

Connie looked at the Gems with wide eyes.

Pearl had never looked more shocked.

Amethyst could only look down at the ground.

And there was frustration within Garnet's eyes as she stared at him.

"All of you let her rot in a prison for thousands of years. She begged you to let her out and you just...ignored her."

Garnet looked to the ground. Without her visor, he could see her pupils clearly. He could see the shame swirling in them. It told him that nothing he said wasn't true.

And that made his anger all the more blazing.

"How could you do that? How could you just let someone wallow in a prison when you could've easily set her free?"

Garnet clenched her fist.

Pearl's eyes looked at the floor, ashamed.

And Amethyst was shaking slightly.

"How could you just not care?"

"That is not what happened!"

Garnet was screaming as she turned her head to face him.

"We...we did care but we couldn't let her out."

He saw her gnash her teeth together.

"Then why didn't you?"

His words were a growl, voice vicious as he glared at Garnet.

"Because Lapis Lazulis are some of the strongest Gems in existence."

"What does that have to do with anything?!"

He was shouting. He could hear the violent anger within his words.

Garnet looked to the ground.

"Steven, we had no idea where that mirror came from. We had no idea what kind of person was inside it. For all we knew, the Gem in there could have been a Homeworld soldier. You've seen what Lapis can do. She was able to manipulate the entire ocean with a cracked Gem. If we let her out, and she was our enemy, then she could have unleashed untold damage on the planet."

"So, what you're saying is that the reason you kept an innocent woman trapped in a mirror...was becuase there was a chance she was a bad guy. Just because there was a chance, you thought it was necessary to let someone be tortured for thousands of years!?"

They all flinched.

He was snarling now.

"Why didn't you just bubble her then if you thought she was such a risk!?"

The flames in his voice were blazing. And as he shouted, he felt something within him. It was only for an instant, but he found himself...liking the way they all grew quiet again. While his anger grew hotter, a part of him was...enjoying the fact that the silence meant that the Gems felt ashamed of their cruel deeds.

He shook his head.

Why on earth would he feel enjoyment from their silence?

"Because...by the time we thought of that option, she had stopped communicating with us. We thought that her mind had faded by that point. So-."

"Wait."

His eyes widened a little.

"Are you telling me...that you didn't bubble her because you  _forgot_ that was an option!?"

This time they didn't flinch. No, flinching wasn't the right word for what they did. It was more like someone had punched them all across the face and they lost the strength to get back up.

The fury within him consumed his every word.

"Are you telling me that when Pearl gave me that mirror she thought she was giving me a corpse to play with!?"

Pearl was trembling. She was Reliving that moment. Reliving the mistake of giving him that mirror. If she had never given him that mirror, then he wouldn't know. He wouldn't know about one of their most cruel deeds.

And they would have gladly taken that to their graves.

Just like  _her._

He could feel all of his rage gather into a livid snarl.

"You've all seen the damage you did to her! You've seen just how badly your mistake hurt someone! Are you telling me that the cruel thing you did to her was the right thing?!"

They didn't respond.

And he was once again shaking.

"There is no way something cruel could ever be the right thing!"

He looked at the book in his hand.

"There is no way shattering someone could possibly be the only answer!"

He refused to believe that ending someone's existence could possibly be considered as the right thing.

"Why are you guys constantly covering for her!? Why all the lies?! Why can't you see how horrible she was!?"

"Steven, Rose wasn't horrible! She was your mother and she loved you! She's a part of our family!"

Pearl had spoken up for the first time in a while. And once again her words made pure fury blaze throughout his body.

"You call this a family?!"

His shaking grew worse as his rage continued to rise.

It wasn't fair.

"You guys constantly hurt each other! You're always taking your issues out on someone instead of just talking about it!"

They kept using love as an excuse. Like even they did love him, it somehow erased all the bad things they had done.

"You've had years to help each other, but instead all you did was just let your issues get worse!"

He could see their pain consuming their expressions. Could see the regret in their eyes.

"You say you love me yet it's almost always you who hurt me the most! You say you're over your issues, but that's just another lie!"

So many lies. So many times had they come back to hurt them all.

"A real family would never do that to each other! A real family wouldn't be so toxic!"

That really was the best word to describe them.

All of the Gems now looked at him with shocked faces. They were surprised he called them toxic.

They really were blind.

"Steven, please, listen to us!"

The desperation in Pearl's voice was massive. He could see all of her fear slithering in her eyes as she trembled.

Listen to them? When all they did was lie?

"We...we're not...we have had our issues but that doesn't make us any less of a family. It doesn't mean we don't love each other. We...we just don't talk about our them out loud because...we've tried to deal with them on our own."

"And look how well that's worked out."

There was steel in his voice. He had never heard his words sound so unyielding before.

Pearl winced again as she glanced at the floor.

"And that's not even talking about all the secrets you keep from me."

He saw her fists clench.

"We keep...we don't tell you things because..."

She couldn't even say the word 'secrets.' She couldn't even admit that much.

"There are some things that you're not ready-."

"Oh don't you dare!"

Of all their pathetic excuses, that was the most ridiculous.

"Are you honestly saying that it's alright that I don't know a single thing about Homeworld!? That when Gems come to attack me I don't even know their names as they punch me!?"

Pearl's mouth was agape. She could do nothing but listen. There's nothing she could say to argue against his logic.

"Do you think it's fine that I literally know nothing about Homeworld! The planet that is trying to destroy me because of one woman, you think it's alright that I know nothing about the Gems that live there or what the planet is even like?! That I know nothing about my own heritage!?"

He didn't even know anything about their leaders. He had only gotten a glance at Yellow Diamond, Blue Diamond he had only heard about from that one story Garnet told him.

And White Diamond...

White Diamond was the only other Diamond they were as tight-lipped about besides Pink. But...he was pretty sure it was for different reasons.

His eyes turned into a glare.

He needed to focus back on the matter at hand.

"Let me tell you why you don't tell me anything about Homeworld! It's because you don't want me to know about your past! You don't want me to know about  _her_ past!"

"Steven, that's..."

Garnet spoke up. But she couldn't even finish her own words. She couldn't figure out how to counter what he said as she gazed at the floor.

He looked around the room.

Lion was standing up and looking at him with a shocked expression.

Connie had both of her hands covering her mouth as she stared at him with wide eyes.

Amethyst had never looked more hurt in her entire life.

And Pearl could do nothing but stare at him with a sorrowful expression.

He let out a sigh.

"You guys keep trying to...ignore the obvious."

His voice became quiet again as he stared at the floor.

Why couldn't they just admit it?

"You pretend that your issues are fine, that you love me and not Rose, that we're a family."

His words were empty. They carried nothing but a cruel, cold, void.

"But we're not. A family wouldn't lie to each other. They wouldn't pretend that everything's fine when it's not."

He brought one hand up to his hair as he grabbed a fistful of his locks.

"I mean...what kind of family gladly excepts all the cruel actions someone did and pretend that they were just and right? What kind of family...glorifies a murderer like you do? How could you think that she was somehow in the right for causing an entire empire of aliens to have it out for one planet for centuries?"

The Gems looked like someone had stabbed them right in their souls. His words hurt them worse than any of Homeworld's efforts to crush them.

"I mean..."

This might have been worse than anything else. This might have been worse than them taking out their issues on him.

He had never shouted as loudly as he did now.

"Do I even need to mention Bismuth!?"

He thought that the Gems' pain couldn't grow anymore. That it had reached its peak.

He was wrong.

The Gems in front of him looked like they had just seen someone die. And when that person died, a part of them died as well. The pain in their faces was cruel. He could feel it leaking into the air, and it was absolutely horrible.

They care so much for her...yet they still won't let her out. They loved her, yet were more than willing to hurt her.

Toxic. The perfect word to describe them.

"You guys don't even talk about her anymore since I bubbled her. You act like she's...still dead."

The pain in the air grew again. The Gems were staring holes into the ground.

"She was...no, she  _is_ your friend and you...you're all fine with what Rose did to her. You're all fine with her bubbling your friend for centuries and never once telling you before she died."

Tears were once again present in Pearl's eyes.

Amethyst hair cast shadows over her eyes as she lowered her head.

And Garnet eyes held enough sorrow to drown the entire room.

"She was the only person to tell me that I didn't have to be like Rose. That I was already better than her. She saw Rose for what she was. A hypocrite. A liar..."

He thought back to one of the talks he had with Mr. Araki. To a sentence had used to describe Rose.

"A monster who doesn't care about anything other than herself."

All of the Gems looked at him with wide eyes. They'd never thought he'd ever say those kinds of words. They'd never thought he would do anything like this.

"I will never agree with her that shattering Gems was the only way to stop Homeworld. But that doesn't mean I wanted to put her in a bubble just like Rose did all those years ago. I wanted to try and talk with her and make her see there are other ways. But do you know what's stopping me from going down there and unbubbling her? Do you want to know what my very first thought was after I beat her?"

He could almost see her standing next to him. Could see her smiling face as she wrapped an arm around his neck.

"I thought that even if I let her out, you guys would just bubble her again without a second thought."

There was nothing but silence that followed his words.

And the Gems looked like all of their strength had been crushed by the weight of their remorse. All of their arguments, all of their attempts to persuade him, had been killed in an instant. Their expressions were mangled with a mix of horror and grief. He could feel their sorrow dripping from within their bodies.

They didn't say anything as they continued to stare at him. Not that anything they'd say would matter.

He already had his answer.

"...That's what I thought."

He was once again on Mr. Araki's porch as the blonde man whispered into his ear.

_"If you really want them to see how serious you are, then say these exact words."_

He let out a sigh; he could hear the sadness that weighed on that one breath.

"You guys expect me to trust you...to love you when all you do is lie to me? When you don't tell me about anything from your past or Gems in general? When you keep repeating the same mistakes that hurt me or other people over and over again?"

_I...I don't know If I should say that. It sounds... Really mean._

_It might be a little mean, but you need to show the Gems how badly their decisions and actions have affected you._

"You don't care about anyone other than yourselves. Not the humans you said you want to protect. Not this planet. And most certainly not each other."

_They might even start to see the error in their ways if you say this._

"The only thing you come close to caring about is a murderous woman who started a war for reasons you will never tell me. But I don't need you to tell me to know that they were probably selfish. To know that  _she_  was an uncaring, cruel person who by some miracle lead a team of women who were damaged in so many ways."

_So trust me when I say this Steven-._

"I will never understand why you love Rose Quartz. The only thing I can understand is why you try to shape me into your ideal version of her. It's because you can never accept the reality. You can't see what she was really like and pretend that any evidence to the contrary doesn't exist."

_If you say these words, things will change._

"You...if you're just going to keep lying to me...if you're just gonna keep hurting me...if you're not going tell me any of the secrets or history that I deserve to know...then...just..."

The next words to leave his mouth had enough acid to dissolve the entire room.

"Fuck off."

Everyone's jaw dropped, even Lions. The Gems expressions became unbearable to look at. The pain in the room rose again as he felt it grip his heart.

And then he ran.

He ran right through the Gems. He ran until he reached the door and opened it and then he continued running outside. All while never once looking back

So many people had tried to break the Crystal Gems.

He had done it in about twenty minutes.

He wiped away the tears in the corner of his eyes as he ran along the sand on the beach.

Why? Why did it have to come to this?

* * *

Amethyst stared at the door Steven just left from. That was all she could do.

Just stare.

Like she had done while he yelled at her. While he told her how badly she had treated him and how her issues had caused him so many problems. How much pain she had caused him.

How...he hated his own mom.

And how she was the one responsible for that.

"I..."

She turned her head and saw Connie staring at her. At all of them. Her eyes kept flickering back and forth, and the shock on her face kept growing as she struggled to say whatever was on her mind.

"I'm so sorry!"

She was saying sorry. Like it was somehow her fault this happened and not theirs.

This kid was way too sweet.

She watched as Connie ran towards the couch in the living room and grabbed her backpack before she ran out the door.

She could faintly hear her scream "Steven!" as she ran down the steps of the beach house.

And then she watched as Lion zoomed after her. The fluffy animal couldn't go through the door, so instead, he jumped through the window; they had opened it before so there wasn't a loud crash of glass hitting the floor. Lion jumped onto the beach below and quickly followed after Connie.

And she and the others stood alone in the house. None of them able to move an inch.

All she could hear were Steven's words. The anger within them. The hatred lodged into every word. And all of his fury seemed to double in size when he talked about Rose.

Steven Universe, the kid who never stopped smiling or helping people...told them all to fuck off.

He told them that he didn't love them. That they didn't love him.

That they didn't care about anyone other than themselves.

"...Did that really just-?"

She didn't finish because a large crash vibrated throughout the house.

She didn't have to turn around to know that Garnet had slammed her gauntlet into the wall. She could already imagine the agony on her face without even looking.

She slowly turned around.

And her eyes widen at what she saw.

It wasn't Garnet, but instead, Pearl had hit the wooden wall near the Warp Pad. Her fist had made a large hole in the wood as several long cracks were now present on the boards.

And the pain on her expression was even greater than the day Rose gave birth to Steven.

Tears were falling from her eyes as she covered her mouth with one hand to try and muffle her sobs. She could feel her sorrow flood the room, and she felt like she was being submerged underneath her sadness. Pearl had never been more hurt. She had never seemed so...shattered in the centuries she knew her.

She heard a noise coming from behind her. She turned around and saw a pink glow surrounding Garnet's body. Every part of her was now masked by the glow, her body now nothing more than an outline. The outline began to split in two, and within the center, she could see a bright red and dark blue gem.

But then the pink glow vanished and Garnet still stood. Her visor was back in place now, not that it mattered.

Because she could still see the sorrow drowning her expression.

"Keep it together."

Garnet's voice was a whisper as a single tear fell from her left eye.

"Keep it together."

She had never heard such anguish from her voice. She could feel it wrap around her throat. It clouded her vision.

No, wait.

That was from the tears descending down her eyes.

She didn't even bother wiping them away.

Damn it...they really were awful at this.

_To Be Continued~_

 


	13. The Peaceful Town

Finally.

His black bike slowed to a stop. The roar of the engine died down as placed his foot on the concrete ground.

He made it.

He had stopped at the very top of a small hill. The road sloped downwards as he could see small houses scattered along the grassy fields that surrounded him. Pass these small houses, he could see the road continued for a few more miles before it finally led to a large town.

After so long, he had finally arrived.

He pushed down on the kickstand as it fully extended and touched the ground. Once he knew his bike was properly secured, he removed the key from the ignition. He slowly got down from his bike as his feet touched the ground; there weren't any cars coming from behind him, so he didn't have to worry about blocking anyone.

He took several steps forward as he took off his helmet. He then let out a breath as he shook his head, purple pompadour swaying slightly as he did so.

Blue eyes took in the sign not even ten feet away on the grassy field.

_Welcome to Beach City!_

The bold, bright yellow words on the blue sign were accompanied by a small star underneath it.

He placed a gloved hand on his right hip.

He pushed his crotch forward.

And while still holding his helmet in his other hand, he brought his left arm up until it was right above his head.

Finally.

Josuke Higashikata had finally arrived in Beach City.

He couldn't help the small grin that crossed his lips.

It had been absolute hell getting here. Fighting Let Me Live and Sheer Heart Attack were arguably the most difficult parts of his journey, but that did not mean the rest was easy. The FBI was actively looking for the person responsible for whatever caused the mess in New Jersey. At first, they had no leads as to what had caused the enormous explosions.

That was of course, before his fight with Sheer Heart Attack. And before several people reported a man with pompadour hair had seemingly been at the forefront of these explosions.

His luck really was getting shitter the longer he spent in this horrible place. He had been able to avoid the FBI so far, though several times he did have rather...close calls.

But, strangely enough, the police activity seemed to decrease the closer he got to Beach City.

He let out a sigh as he massaged the bridge of his nose. The material of his gloves felt rough on his skin.

Soon, it would all be worth it. Soon, staying in filthy motels, actively avoiding staying out in public for too long and traveling hundreds of miles across this awful country would be worth it. He had been in such a hurry to get to Beach City he didn't even have the time to stop at a damn tailor to get his clothes fixed. So instead, he had to change outfits.

No longer did he wear his usual dark blue high school jacket, but in its place was a dark black leather jacket with a long zipper at the center that stretched to his waist. The upper portion of his jacket was unzipped which exposed a small amount of the dark, long-sleeved shirt he wore underneath; on its sides were pockets lined with zippers. Two dark purples stripes ran along the length of his jacket's sleeves up to the button-up collar on his neck. He had replaced his blue dress pants with navy blue jeans and his purple shoes with dark black biker boots with straps. He had also decided to place two of his emblems on his new black leather gloves, the golden peace symbol on his right and the heart symbol on his left.

And to complete his outfit, he had bought a thin purple scarf that wrapped around his neck with the ends hanging loosely on top of the backpack he had acquired.

He did not want to change his usual clothing. But he realized that he would look suspicious if he walked around in burnt and ripped clothing. So, with some stolen money, he had bought some new clothes.

Still, he would have liked to have kept his original clothes. He felt uncomfortable without his usual jacket and pants clinging to his body. He had chosen clothes he could confidently say looked good on him, but...He still couldn't say he liked them.

He seriously needed to find a tailor to fix his old ones.

He felt his stomach rumble slightly. Right. He had barely eaten today.

He slowly maneuvered the backpack off his shoulder as he held it in the air with one hand. He then unzipped one of the dark blue compartments as he reached inside it with one hand. He had stored a number of items inside his backpack. Money, his clothing that had been burnt and the spare emblems that he couldn't work into his outfit, maps. And he had also stored a number of assorted candies in here. The ones that he found the least disgusting, anyway.

Damn. He would kill for one of Tonio's dishes. Okuyasu was right, that man was a genius when it came to cooking. Hell, he'd even take one of his mom's shitty miso soups. Or-.

Stop it.

He slowly removed a Kit Kat bar and began to unwrap it. He placed his backpack on his back as he began to bite into the candy bar.

There'd be no use in thinking like that. All it would do was make him see their faces. They would be right in front of him, but he could never touch them; they would always be out of reach. It would just be another reminder that his home kept getting farther and farther away with each day.

And his dreams hadn't exactly helped him stop thinking about Morioh.

Every night, he found himself back in his town. Sometimes he'd be hanging out with Koichi and Okuyasu, other times it would be with his shitty old man. There were times when he was training with Jotaro. And even times when he and his other friends hung out with Reimi and Arnold in that alley so they wouldn't be so lonely.

And each time he'd awake in cold sweat. It would always feel like he had lost a part of his heart whenever he woke up from those dreams.

Well, it could have been worse. He could be have been "dreaming" about that damn blizzard again.

He chomped into the last piece of the candy bar as he threw the wrapper onto the ground behind him.

He hadn't been transported to that strange place in a while. He had been worried that if he fell asleep that he would be sent there, but thankfully that wasn't the case. Then again, he didn't really know how exactly he kept getting taken there or why, so perhaps he shouldn't have been so surprised.

But even though he hadn't been back to that place in two weeks...he could still hear them.

The voices of the dead.

Shigechi.

Hell, there were even times his body would feel cold for no real reason. He'd swore he felt something wet and soft pelt his skin even though he never found anything there. He'd feel his heart racing as for a moment he believed he was back in that blizzard. Dread would fill his chest as he wondered what he would see this time in that strange place.

And sometimes he could see the face of that...thing that looked like his mom.

But he'd always snap out of it a second later. He couldn't let fear distract him. Not when that bastard still lived.

He felt his right hand slowly curl into a fist, and he looked towards the town in the distance.

After this...he could worry. He could figure out how to get home after he beat that sociopath. And he would get home...somehow. Even if he had to spend years finding out how, he would see his family and friends again.

He had experienced so many things most would consider impossible. He had a power that let him redefine what the word "possible" truly meant. He had literally been transported to a separate universe.

There had to be a way to repeat the process. There just had to be.

For now, all he needed to do was focus on that man.

His eyes narrowed.

Just focus on beating the ever-loving shit out of Kira Yoshikage.

He walked back to his bike. Once he was close enough, he jumped onto the black seat and stuck the key into the ignition. The engine let out a metallic roar as he placed his helmet back on his head.

He would finally get revenge for all those he had killed in Morioh. For those he had killed in this world.

And he would get to correct the biggest mistake of his life.

He moved the kickstand back into its place as he gripped the throttle with as much strength as he could. The engine once again roared, and he was off. He could hear the winds rushing past him as he went down the road.

And he prepared himself for what would be the most important battle of his life.

* * *

Well, well, well.

He had finally arrived.

Kira placed the book he had been reading down on the small table to the right of him. It had been a copy of Steven King's  _The Gunslinger._  Admittedly, it wasn't his favorite King novel, but still, it was a good way to kill time. He had read through most of the books he purchased with only a few here left in his collection he hadn't read yet. He would read the rest after he returned.

He slowly got up from the bed he had been lying on. He was currently in his room, which after much cleaning, was now the least dustiest place in his entire house. There was a small closet across from his bed that held his spare suits, and a large four drawer chest leaned against the far wall to his left. In the first drawer his nail collection, the second his books, the third he placed his casual clothing, and the fourth an assortment of fashion magazines and spare cash.

Maybe later would go out to eat. There was a sushi place here, and he had heard nothing but praise from it since he first arrived. Though, it might have been closed just like most of the other stores as of late.

He walked towards his closet and pulled out two hangers. A wooden one where his suit rested on smooth shoulders and a plastic one with metal clippings that held his pants and tie. He placed the hangers on his bed as he began to take off the white t-shirt and blue cargo pants he had been wearing.

About two weeks ago he had called Let Me Live into existence. He ordered it to not attack anyone and to instead simply stand at the tallest building it could and watch out for a single heat signature. The connection the sentry version of his Killer Queen had with him grew stronger the closer it was to its master. Strong enough to the point where if it saw a certain heat signature, it could use said connection to make the signature appear right before its master.

So when his world suddenly turned into a distorted color of static like blue and bright red, as if inferred goggles had been attached to his eyes, he knew Let Me Live was responsible. And the fact that his sentry was showing him a heat signature that looked incredibly familiar made him realize one thing.

Josuke Higashikata was here.

And the words he heard accompanied by this image, words that were distorted and spoken in a voice similar to his own, supported his statement.

_Outskirts. Fifteen minutes away._

In all honesty, he had expected he'd arrive at this town sooner. But with all the time Josuke provided him, he had thought up of so many wonderful plans to deal with him.

He was fully changed now as he looked down at his clothes. His usual blue business suit and matching blue pants had no wrinkles. He had just recently ironed his tie so it looked fresh and pristine. Though, there was something missing.

He turned his head to look at the drawer on the wall, and he saw the golden swiss watch laying on top of it.

Ahh, that was it.

He walked around his bed towards the drawer. He calmly picked up the thin watch and wrapped it around his wrist. He could see his own reflection on the glass that covered the tiny hands and Roman numerals.

His lips moved into a grin as he secured it. He then walked towards the door and left his room. He walked down the long and decaying hallway that would lead him to the spiral staircase.

He had thought of so many different ways to deal with Josuke and his Stand. He had thought up of equally creative ways to kill the team of broken aliens as well. But as he was scheming, he was struck with an idea. An oh so brilliant idea.

Why come up with separate plans to deal with his enemies when he could come up with one to take care of both?

It was why he waited for him to arrive. Why he was now no longer annoyed by his imminent arrival, but instead thrilled. He was  _happy_  that Josuke had finally arrived here.

Because now that he was, he could execute his plan.

He had made it down the staircase and proceeded to walk towards the wide doors at the entrance of his house.

After this, he wouldn't have to deal with teenagers with supernatural powers. He wouldn't have to deal with aliens and their half-breed child once his plan went into action. Becuase, by the end of it, there would be no one around to fight him.

There would be no one left to disturb his peaceful life.

He pushed open the doors and saw the clouds in the sky. He could hear the faint rumblings of thunder as he walked on the rotted wood the made up his porch.

Ahh, yes, there was suppose to be a storm later today. Hopefully, they would all be dead before it started to rain. He didn't want to get his suit wet.

He walked on the decaying grass that made up his front lawn and headed towards the forest. He had to complete the preparations for his plan, so he was off to make a few...stops.

* * *

Steven had no idea why he chose to come to the boardwalk.

Every store, from Beach Citywalk Fries to Funland arcade, were closed. A lot of places had been closing earlier than they ever had before. The reason why was because they were scared. Everyone knew that the Gems had still yet to catch whatever blew up one of their own family.

He'd be surprised if anyone in their town wasn't terrified right now.

His eyes stared at the sand that was only a few feet beneath the wooden boards he was sitting on. His legs dangled off the edge as his right hand slowly moved towards his gemstone.

In his mind, he saw the Gems faces. He could see the horror on their expression. The sorrow that swirled in their eyes. And he almost felt those awful emotions stab at his very heart.

He never would have thought that he could cause the Gems to feel like that before.

He let out a sigh.

Well, before, he hadn't realized just how awful they were. They didn't even care about each other so how on earth could they care about him?Now, he knew they didn't love him. And now, he knew that they never would.

They would only ever love that awful woman.

"Steven!"

He didn't bother turning his head when as he heard loud footsteps running towards him before they quickly stopped. He just kept staring at the sand.

"What the heck was that!?"

He still didn't turn around as he heard her walk on the creaky wooden boards towards him.

"You were...I mean...do you..."

She kept trying to find her words, and he still didn't respond or even acknowledge her.

"Steven...could you just...look at me. At us. Please."

He had never heard her talk in such a small voice before. Each word she spoke was so frail, like they would fall apart at any moment.

He slowly turned his head around.

Connie was staring at him with eyes full of worry. He could see the anxiety lodged in her expression, and it was slowly getting bigger with each moment.

Lion had on an impassive face, but it was different from usual. This time there was a gleam within its chocolate eyes. Something he wouldn't have noticed if the pink animal wasn't staring right at him. To him, it looked like...fear.

"Steven...what the heck was that back there?"

And the worry grew again. He could almost feel her concern as it wrapped around her face. He hated making Connie so worried, it always made him feel like garbage making his close friend feel such awful emotions.

He continued to stare at Connie before he slowly let out a sigh.

"...I was just telling the truth."

He could see the worry fade slightly as she carefully sat next to him on the boardwalk. Lion stayed where it was, choosing to look at the two of them as it stood.

"Steven...I think we both know that "the truth" is different from telling the Gems to...you know."

"Connie...you heard what I said. I was just letting them know..."

He trailed off.

Would Connie even understand? Could she understand all the pain they had caused him?

He looked into her eyes. Brown eyes that belonged to his friend. Eyes that looked at him as his own person. She viewed him as Steven Universe, not Rose Quartz. She hadn't kept secrets from him. She had never hurt him just because she had issues.

She was his best friend. If anyone could see what he saw, she could.

"...How them being awful people have surprisingly hurt not only me but so many others."

She saw her eyes widen.

"Steven, do you...do you really believe that?"

He felt his eyes narrow.

"I don't believe it, I know it. I meant every word I said back there."

She glanced to the side. He knew those words were harsh, but the only way for her to see just how much they sucked he had to be as honest as possible. Just like what Mr. Araki had done for him.

"I know that you said that they're not over their issues but, I remember a couple weeks ago before...everything became awful that you said that you were proud of them. That you were happy they were getting over their problems."

He had said that. But that was before he really thought about their actions towards not just him, but to each other and even towards themselves.

"And I could be imagining things, but I'm pretty sure you said you loved them back then too."

...Yeah, he had said that. But now, hearing how idiotic he had been before only made him mad.

"Connie...that was before I realized that they just kept repeating the same mistakes over and over again."

He could hear the anger rising in his words. He tried to control it, but it getting harder to do so by the second.

"They just pretend like they've solved their problems but there just letting them get worse. Amethyst still hates herself, Garnet is still a bad leader, and Pearl for some reason is still head over heels for Rose."

He wanted to growl; his anger kept rising despite his efforts to smother it out.

He let out a breath.

They weren't here. It was just him and Connie. And Lion.

"And then they take it out on me. Sometimes it's on each other, but it's mostly me. Whether it be letting me fall to my death because they were hurt, turning into my dead mom in front of my dad, or letting each other continue to do this cra-stuff over and over again without ever helping."

He was reliving those times again in his mind. And his teeth gnashed together as a small growl escaped his lips.

"They say we're a family, but what kind of family does that? What kind of family manipulates each other? Hurts the other just because they feel bad about themselves?"

It was so...infuriating how they continued to lie to themselves. Why couldn't they ever admit the truth even once?

"When exactly did you start feeling like this?"

He blinked.

Connie was looking at him with furrowed brows.

"When did you start thinking that they didn't love you. That your mom didn't-."

"Why are you asking me questions I already answered back at the Beach House?"

He raised his voice for the first time as interrupted her.

"Because I want to know what happened to the Steven I knew."

He saw Connie's eyes narrow.

"What?"

"Did you even hear yourself back there? Halfway through it sounded like you were a different person."

He had never seen such a serious expression on his friends face before. But all her words did was make the anger burning within him grow yet again.

"I know I sounded harsh, but sometimes the truth hurts. After everything they did, I have the right to be mad."

Connie's mouth turned into a frown.

"Steven, you didn't just sound harsh, you sounded like you wanted to hurt the Gems."

He thought back to that feeling of enjoyment he felt for a split second.

He bit his lip as he looked to the side.

"And you looked...scary."

He knew that. He knew that Connie was scared of him as he was yelling at the Gems. But...he had every right to scream at them. To let loose every emotion festering within him.

"Connie, everything I said back there was the truth."

He could feel the anger blazing within his eyes. He tried to calm himself, but with all the memories replaying in his head it was impossible.

But despite his growing fury, Connie still calmly looked into his eyes.

"Look, what you said before..."

She trailed off before letting out a sigh.

"When you really say it out loud, it's...messed up, to put it lightly. But...I think even you didn't want to say some of the stuff you said to them."

He blinked again.

He could see their faces again. The sorrow flooding every inch of their features. The agony that each word he spoke caused them. They were awful. But...that didn't mean he liked seeing anyone suffer like that. No matter how cruel they were, he hated seeing any person feel such awful emotions.

"...No, I didn't."

But then he remembered all the talks he had with Mr. Araki. All the times he had made him really question every act the Gems had done as he went over their history.

"But that doesn't mean I regret what I said."

He would never regret letting the Gems know just how tired he was of their lies.

"But Steven, you didn't have to be so...cruel. Don't you think you could have handled it a bit-."

"Connie, what would you do if your Dad said he was moving again?"

She stopped talking. Her eyes widen slightly. There was fear in her expression as she stared at him.

"Wha-what?"

He was well aware that one of her worse fears was that her Dad would announce they were moving again because of his job again. It would always make her a tiny bit afraid whenever she thought of that horrible possibility. He didn't want to mention that possibility, but he needed to. It was to make her understand.

"Why...why are you asking me that?"

"Just...please answer."

His words were quiet now, any anger left in his voice was gone now. Connie looked to the side for a moment, and then her eyes returned to him.

"I...I beg him not to. You know I would."

"Yeah, I know. But, what would you first ask him?"

She bit her lip before she spoke.

"I...I mean, I guess I'd ask him why when he knows how much I love Beach City."

He let out a sigh.

"Yeah, you would. You'd ask your dad why. You'd ask him a simple question, and you'd expect a simple answer."

He once again placed a hand on his gemstone.

"But what if your Dad didn't answer you? What if he just gave you a vague response that didn't answer your question in the slightest?"

His fingers dug into his shirt. He could feel them brush against the edges of his gem

"What if he gave you answers that didn't make any sense to you whenever you asked him about anything from his past? Like what he did before you were born or where he met his wife?"

Sadness drowned his expression as his eyes flickered to the ground.

"How would you feel about all of that?"

Connie didn't respond right away. She looked at the ground for a while before her eyes returned to look at him.

"I...I guess I'd be...upset at him for doing that."

He let out a sigh.

"Yeah, you would be. You'd be hurt, bitter, and sad. You'd wonder if there's a reason why they're not telling you something so simple, and start to think that maybe it's okay that they don't tell you anything."

He really was an idiot for thinking like that for so long.

"But soon, you start to realize some things. Things that make everything they've done look questionable. You try to think the best, you try not to let that voice that keeps bugging you convince you otherwise, but every day it gets harder."

After finally realizing just how many awful things they had done, he regretted not listening to that voice sooner.

"You ask again, but still no answers. Even when it would be so easy, they still refuse to answer anything. You feel sad and hurt again, and start to think that maybe it's your fault that they won't tell you anything. But then..."

He looked up and stared at the ocean.

"It hits you. You realize that the reason they don't tell you their secrets isn't because of something you did, but because of them. It's because their awful, cruel people that constantly hurt each other. That can never get over their issues even when the fate of the planet, of their 'home,' is at stake."

His voice became bitter.

"You realize that they never loved you...and that the family you lived your entire life with is nothing more than a lie. A lie resting on top of a massive pile of other lies."

Lie after Lie. Secret after secret. Why were they incapable of being honest with each other? Why couldn't they just talk like an actual family? Why couldn't they see just how awful they were or how they hurt him?

For a moment, he saw  _her_ face in his mind again. And he felt his eyes turn into a glare.

Why can't they see just how sinister Rose Quartz really was?

"I'm sick of it Connie. They had everything coming to them. If I hadn't been such an idiot, I would have said that stuff a lot sooner."

He could hear the faint anger in his words as he gripped his gemstone even harder now.

Neither he nor Connie spoke for a while. From the corner of his eyes, he could still see Lion standing only a few feet behind them as he watched them with chocolate eyes.

Then Connie broke the silence.

"Steven...you're wrong."

He couldn't have heard that.

"What?"

"You're wrong."

You have got to be kidding me.

"Are you serious!?"

He was shouting as he quickly stood up. He couldn't control his anger anymore; it now burned throughout his every word.

"Yes, I'm serious!"

Connie stood up and looked right into his eyes. Despite the anger he knew was in them, she didn't even blink.

"I know for a fact they love you! I can't count how many times I've seen them literally risk everything just to save you!"

"After everything I said, after you literally just admitted what they did was awful, you're telling me they still love me!"

He'd thought for sure he understood. But he was wrong.

The fury within him became hotter. Why couldn't his own best friend see what he saw?!

"It...I'm not saying you shouldn't be mad at what they did. But you're letting your anger blind you from just how much they care about you!"

"Connie, they don't care about me! They've only risked their lives for me because they think I'm just a carbon copy of Rose!"

"That's not-."

"Were you even listening to half of the stuff I mentioned! Calling me Rose, talking about her like she's right there in my place!"

"I-."

"They don't even care about each other! They just take their problems out on whoever's closest and-."

"Would you stop interrupting me!"

She was shouting at him.

And he was surprised at just how fierce her words sounded. The intensity in her voice actually made him stop talking. The anger in her expression only made the glare she was sending him all the more frightening.

She had never looked so...intimidating before.

But as soon as it came, the anger faded. She let out a long breath before she spoke.

"Look...they stink at being guardians. They obviously have absolutely no idea what the heck they're doing."

Her eyes became gentle, and for some reason, he felt at ease as he looked at her.

"I...I'm sorry for not realizing just how much you were suffering."

Guilt flooded her expression, and she glanced away for a moment before quickly looking back at him.

"But, Steven, I know they care about you. And it's not because they think you're Rose. You wanna know how I know?"

The remorse vanished from her face as she took a step closer to him.

"It's because I see them actively trying to get better at being parents. Every time Pearl watches TV with us even though she has no idea what the heck she's watching. Every time Garnet watches the stars with us even though she's probably seen it through her future vision a million times over. And every time Amethyst picks up a book of  _The Unfamiliar Familiar_ even though she hates reading long books."

He...remembered those times. Those memories were fun. There were before Peridot had died. Before every day of his life became darker as he learned that the Gems weren't what he thought they were.

He felt something heavy rising in his chest. It embedded itself firmly within him. What exactly it was, he had trouble describing. It wasn't quite sadness, but maybe it was...regret?

But why-?

"They are always trying to understand everything you like so that they can better relate to you."

Her words brought him out of his thoughts.

"If they didn't love you, then they wouldn't bother learning that your favorite cereal is  _Cookie Kittens_. Or that your favorite show is  _The Crying Breakfast Friends."_

They...they did know a lot about what he liked and didn't.

"I'm not saying that what've done to you is...acceptable behavior, but..."

She glanced at the floor for a moment. She gathered her thoughts before she looked back at him.

"They love you...and that might not excuse what they did...I think that maybe it should at least mean they're not as horrible as you think they are."

He never really understood how Connie could make her voice sound so warm. He could hear compassion in every word she spoke. The kindness in every syllable felt...calming.

He could see their faces again. Could see them smiling at him. Of times when they seemed to be...a real family.

He looked down.

But then he remembered everything else. He remembered all the bad times. Every time he learned something bad about them and they just brushed it under the rug.

His eyes slowly moved back to Connie.

"What about the fact that they're still not over any of their problems? Even with all their issues, you still think they're not toxic?"

She frowned.

"That...they're slowly getting better, I know they are."

"Connie, Pearl turned you into a tool who was more than willing to die for me just because of how she felt about Rose, and you're saying she's getting better?"

She flinched. It was a small flinch, but he still saw it.

"Steven, Pearl only did that one time."

"The fact that she only did that once is far from a good thing."

"I...am aware of that, but you're making it sound like she's done it a thousand times over."

"Becuase she has. They all have."

The disgust in his voice was foul and bitter.

"Pearl says she's over my mom, but she has a crush on someone who looks just like her. Amethyst says she no longer hates herself, but I could feel her self-loathing when we fused. And Garnet hasn't ever done anything to help them even when she knows there's something wrong with all of them."

The venom in his every word became stronger as he clenched his hands into fists.

"Their issues are only getting worse every day. At this point, it's only a matter of time before they hurt either me, each other, or someone else because of their problems again."

"Steven, I..."

She trailed off, eyes flickering to the wooden boards.

"They have their problems, but that doesn't mean they're awful people. Some things just take time to...heal."

She had to take a moment to consider that last word.

"It's been years Connie. They've had plenty of time to get over their issues, but instead they choose not to talk about them to anyone. It's only after they do something awful that they start to consider something's wrong with them, and even then it at most lasts for a couple seconds before they go back to pretending everything's fine."

Like pretending that their friend hadn't been trapped by their leader for centuries. Like Rose hadn't lied to them to the end and believing that Bismuth was still dead.

"Steven...okay, they stink at talking about their problems."

At the very least, Connie knew when to admit he had a point. Unlike the rest of the Crystal Gems.

"But, some of their issues...I mean, would you want to talk about it?"

"When they constantly hurt me or each other, I think at that point I would realize I need help."

His eye narrowed.

"When the fate of the world is at stake and their issues cause problems, I think they should be just a  _little_ bit willing to talk about the things that bother them."

It was ridiculous. With so much at stake, they still choose to keep silent about their issues. They really were that adamant on admitting they weren't awful.

"And that's not even getting into the secrets. I still don't know anything about what they did before the war. I don't know anything Homeworld, what Rose's past was like before she became the leader of the Crystal Gems, or even basic stuff about Gem society. For some reason, they refuse to tell me even the most basic of stuff."

"There...maybe they want to tell you...but they can't?"

He heard the disbelif in her voice; even she didn't believe her own words.

His eyes were now in a glare as he stared at the wooden boards on the ground.

"Connie, I...we risk our lives every day when we go out to fight some Corrupted Gem. We deserve to know what the heck we're fighting for at this point. What could possibly be the reason for not telling us stuff that could help us understand Homeworld Gems in an instant? I mean, they don't even tell us what their leaders, the people who are probably our biggest enemy right now, are like or even their powers."

He looked back up and saw Connie's eyes flickering to the side. She seemed to be considering his words.

"It's like I said before, they just don't want me to find out how awful they really are."

"Steven..."

She paused. She saw her open her mouth once before she quickly closed it.

He took her silence as a sign to continue.

"Connie, even if they did love me and not Rose, that doesn't mean they aren't awful."

His voice was quiet again.

"That doesn't mean we're a real family."

What they were...it barely even counted as a cheap imitation of a genuine family. It barely-.

"Talk to them."

He looked up and saw Connie's expression had hardened as she looked him in the eyes.

"What?"

"If you talk to them now, then I'm sure they'll answer your questions. "

No, they wouldn't. That would require them to actually consider something other than themselves. And it was so frustrating that Connie couldn't see that.

"No, they won't."

"You don't know that."

How could someone so smart be so stu-.

He crushed that thought before it could continue.

"Connie, why on earth would they tell me anything now?"

"Because now they know just how badly they hurt you."

Oh, now they realize just how much their actions had hurt him. After so long, they finally realize something any loving guardian would have realized years ago.

"It doesn't matter if they know. They've hurt me before, so adding just another time to the list won't even bother them that much."

By tomorrow, they'd probably pretend that everything was fine. Just like always, his toxic 'guardians' would go back to thinking their lives were perfect when they were not.

"Steven, that's not true. Please, You have to talk to them."

"No. I. Don't."

He hoped his curt words would make her see he wouldn't change his mind.

"Then what's your plan?"

He raised a brow.

"What?"

"Are you just gonna avoid them for the rest of your life? Are you just gonna ignore them and pretend that they don't exist?"

Connie's eyes were narrowed. The serious expression on her face was almost as intense as Garnet's. Something told him that she knew how aggressive the face she made was.

He glanced at the floor.

"It's worked so far."

"What?"

"I moved out of the temple two weeks ago. I've been living with my Dad in his van ever since."

"What?!"

She screamed at him. Her mouth dropped as she stared right at him like he was an idiot.

He tried to ease the irritation rising within him that was caused by such a look, but he found it very difficult to not clench his teeth together.

But a moment later, the look was gone. Connie took in a deep breath before slowly letting it out. Her expression was now gentle as she looked at into his eyes.

"Steven, you can't just not talk to them. You said it yourself, Homeworld is still a threat and you guys need to be at your best. You're upset that they don't talk with one another and their personal problems, yet here you are doing the exact same thing."

He took a step back as his eyes widened.

Was he...doing what they had done? No. That...he would never be like them.

He wouldn't be like  _her._

"I...Connie, they never talk about their issues before, and they won't start now."

"You don't know that."

"Yes, I do."

"They've made mistakes, but now that you've...brought them up, I'm sure they'll listen. They have to."

This was pointless. Nothing Connie said would change his mind.

"Connie...just stop."

He turned around and stuck his hands in his pocket.

"I'm not talking to them. You might as well-."

He felt something grab him by his forearm. He was then yanked backward as he spun around.

Connie was grabbing his arm with both hands with narrowed eyes.

"What are you-."

"Talk to them."

This time her words were far more forceful than before.

"You have to do it at some point, so why delay the inevitable?"

He tried to pull his arm back, but Connie's grip was strong.

"Because even if I went back there, they wouldn't admit to anything."

"Steven, you guys are the only thing between the planet and an army of aliens. If you don't talk to each other at some point, then what'll happen to the Crystal Gems?"

He didn't have an answer.

"Who's gonna protect Beach City if you guys can't even stand in the same room as one another?"

He...he would come up with something.

"I'll figure something out."

When he said it out loud, he realized how flimsy that reason sounded.

"That is not an answer."'

He pulled back on his arm a little harder.

"Connie, please, let go of my arm."

"Not until you say you'll talk to the Gems."

"Connie...let go."

She hadn't missed the irritation his words carried. Instead, she ignored it as she continued to pull even harder.

"Steven, please, talk to them. They love you-."

Those words made anger burn throughout his body.

How could she believe such an obvious lie!?

"No, they don't!"

He had realized what he had done until he heard her gasp.

His eyes widen as he saw her take a few stumbling steps backward and she fell on to her back. The backpack she had been wearing had been forced open, its contents spilling onto the wooden boards.

He had pushed her. He had pushed his own friend with strength he hadn't meant to use.

"OW!"

She let out a shout. And when she did, worry swallowed his heart.

"Connie!"

He immediately went to her. Lion was also a few feet behind, though he wasn't paying the animal much attention.

"Are you alright?"

"Ow..."

He saw her slowly bring up her right hand as he could see a cut on her palm. It wasn't very big, but a tiny amount of blood still leaked from her hand.

"Oh, man, I'm so sorry."

"It...it's fine."

Her curt words did not ease his worry.

"I didn't mean-."

"I know, Steven. Like I said, it's fine. I'm fine. It's just a little cut. Probably from one of the nails or something."

It occurred to him that he had done something similar to what the Gems had constantly done to him. Hurt someone else just because they were hurting, and that disgusted him. He suddenly felt nauseous.

"Here, let me heal-."

"Don't!"

He took a step back as she shouted. Even Connie was surprised at how loud her voice was as she blinked. She looked away from him as she glanced at the floor.

"I...I have some bandages in my-."

She turned her head around and saw all the supplies that had once been in her backpack were now scattered on the boardwalk. Books, a surprising amount of printed pictures, and other supplies haphazardly covered the boardwalk.

"...Really?"

She sighed, picking up her backpack as she slowly got up. She moved towards the nearest object, which happened to be a case of bandages. She opened the case and took out a brown bandage before placing it on her palm. She then placed the case back into her back.

He thought he should say something...but he decided not to. Instead, he chose to grab the nearest object to him, Buddy's journal. He had dropped it as he ran from the Beach House. Connie must have picked it up on her way here.

Hesitantly, he walked over to Connie as she was picking up one of her notebooks and handed her Buddy's journal.

She accepted it with a nod as she immediately turned away from him went back to picking up her stuff.

He did the same. He grabbed at the white background of the nearest picture that was scattered along the wooden planks.

And when he flipped the picture over, he saw that the picture was of Fun Land. Specifically of the various booths at night with many people walking between them. And he instantly realized when this picture was taken. He recognized the decorations, the night sky, and the lights that glowed from the booths.

He had seen it constantly in his dreams.

He looked around at the other pictures. All of them looked to be taken at Funland just like the one in his hand.

"Did...are all these pictures of Funland before Peridot..."

He didn't finish.

Connie turned around to look at him. She looked nervous as she bit her lower lip.

"Yeah...I took them before you and Lapis showed up."

Her eyes glanced to the floor. His friend was worried that just by talking about that night she'd make him feel awful again.

And...she was somewhat right.

"You...you sure took a lot of them."

He tried not to make his voice sound weak, but he was failing spectacularly.

"Yeah, well, I took as many pictures of the fair as I could because I was going to show them to my pen-pal."

Oh, right. Her school had assigned the students pen-pals from across the state. Apparently, they were to send messages by email to each other at least once every two weeks.

What was her pen-pals name again? Something...Pines?

"But, things changed. So, I decided to print every picture I took that night. I thought that since I took so many pictures, maybe..."

She trailed off. Her eyes glanced at him for a moment. She was hesitant to continue, but after a few seconds, she decided to finish.

"Maybe I could find out what killed Peridot. Maybe I somehow took even a single inch of it without realizing."

Well, that sounded like a good idea. But...

"But I couldn't find anything."

He knew that there was no way they could be that lucky.

"Are...you okay?"

Connie looked at him like he might fall apart at any moment.

He wouldn't. He had to be strong now more than ever. Especially since from this point on he might have to deal with whatever killed Peridot without the help of the Gems.

"I'm fine."

He bent down to pick up another picture.

"I just need-."

His eyes flickered to the picture in his hand.

And he stopped talking. His thoughts came to a crashing halt. Everything around him seemed to fade to black as his entire focus shifted to the photo in his hand.

What...what was he looking at?

By all means, the picture in his hand wasn't that different from the others he had seen. There were people walking along one of Funland's many lanes that were surrounded by various booths. There was nothing here that showed anything Gem like. Nothing that screamed monster.

But there was something very, v _ery,_ wrong with this picture.

Because when he looked in the background, amidst the sea of people that were so close to not being included in the picture, he saw him.

His back was facing the camera so he couldn't see his face. He was so far away he almost had to squint to properly see him. But he could still make out his blonde hair. His blue suit that seemed to be highlighted by the orange lights that came from the stalls in the forefront.

Mr. Araki was there. Even though he said he hadn't been there on that night.

"Steven?"

Connie's voice sounded so distant, but the fear within it reached his ears with ease. Did he look different somehow? Was him staring at this photo disturbing to her?

Or perhaps his trembling was the reason his friend sounded scared.

Mr. Araki could have forgotten. That was the first thought to appear in his mind. It sounded possible. He could have arrived there earlier and had left before Peridot had exploded. And then he had just forgotten to tell him.

But then he remembered his words from their first talk.

_Forgive me for that assumption. With that visor of hers, I can't see her eyes, so I couldn't tell. They're a lot like Ms. Peridot's now that I think about it._

How...how did he know Peridot had a visor? Mr. Araki had told him several times during their talks that he hadn't made any friends or even talked to any of the people of Beach City since he had gotten here. So no one could have told him what Peridot looked like.

So that meant he had to have seen her at some point. And if he did, why didn't he say anything about it? Why hadn't he had said he was there to see her blow up? There would be no reason to...to lie.

And then he remembered something else.

_About Gems' fighting capabilities, does every different race of Gems have a different selection of abilities_

_Yeah, so far everyone's had a different weapon. Garnet's gauntlets, Pearl's spear, Amethyst's whip, even Jasper's helmet._

_And what of those without physical weapons? Do they also have the elemental powers of say Lapis? Or even powers similar to Peridot's?_

He felt his heart stop beating for a second.

How...how did Mr. Araki know Peridot didn't have a weapon like any of the other Gems? He never told him anything about Peridot's abilities before or during that conversation.

So...so how on earth did he know what Peridot could do? He would have had...to...seen her...use her powers.

The sweat falling from his forehead was cold.

And the only time he could have seen that was when...she was being hunted by that-.

Another memory appeared in front of him. This one of Lion growling at Mr. Araki with white eyes. The pink beast didn't like Mr. Araki. It was like-.

_They see something in me that other people don't._

Those words, the words Mr. Araki had meant as a joke, brought up an image to his mind.

It was when he first saw the blonde businessman. When he thought Mr. Araki seemed to drip with malevolence. When his eyes seemed to emit a cruel gleam.

When...his eyes...for one moment just before he fell down those stairs...

Looked pink.

They looked pink...long before he had nightmares of that monster.

Of the same thing that killed Peridot.

His trembling was making it almost impossible to stand now. His heart that had stopped beating was now hammering against his chest.

"Steven!?"

He could barely hear Connie's frightened cry.

No way. There was no way...that was ridiculous. There was no possible way.

The fear within him said otherwise as it choked him. His dread slithered throughout his entire body. It felt like he was slowly being dragged to an abyss as the terror suffusing him grew colder.

And then he felt a hand grab his shoulder. His attention was finally pulled away from the photo in his hand as he turned his head.

The fear in Connie's eyes was unlike any he had ever seen in his friend before. Like it consumed her every thought and action.

"What-are you-what's wrong?"

Even Lion was looking at him with wide eyes.

Wait...Lion...

"Lion...can...can you make a portal to Mr. Araki's house?"

The pink animal's expression immediately changed. The fear vanished from his expression as anger now burned in his eyes; Lion then let out a growl that was quickly getting louder.

"Wait, what?"

He didn't answer Connie's question. He still stared right at his pink friend. From the corner of his eye, he could see Connie's expression. Confusion was wrapping around her face as it grew with each moment.

"Why do you want to go to his house?"

"Because..."

He...he had to be mistaken. It was absolutely ridiculous that he was assuming something like that with so little evidence.

How could he even begin to assume Mr. Araki wasn't human?

But...

The blonde businessman had lied to him...that much he knew for sure.

And he wanted to know why now more than ever.

"...I need to ask him something really,  _really_ important."

He looked right into Lion's pupils. His eyes pleaded for his pink buddy to listen to him. His expression hopefully told Lion just how desperately he needed to see Mister Araki.

And after a moment, Lion let out another growl. This one didn't have any anger in it. It was a growl that begrudgingly accepted whatever request he asked his friend for.

"Thanks, Lion."

He then heard a sigh coming from behind him. Turning around, he saw Connie take a few steps closer to him. He noticed that at some point she had gathered all of her spilled supplies and placed them back in her backpack.

"I'm coming with you."

Her words were crisp and firm as she looked at him.

"Why?"

"Becuase this sounds important, and I want to be there for you."

The serious expression she wore left him no room to argue.

"Especially now."

Right. With how she had finally learned about his feelings for the Gems, to her, leaving him alone now was out of the question. And she probably wasn't done trying to convince him to give the Gems...a chance.

He slowly nodded his head.

"Okay, that's fine."

Connie then moved to Lion and placed her backpack in his mane. The moment her backpack made contact with Lion's hair, a bright pink light began to shine. The light took the shape of a large oval that made it impossible to see the area of hair it shined above. As she continued to push her backpack forward, the oval began to swallow it. Eventually, the backpack was completely swallowed by the light and had vanished from the world.

"So, what are we waiting for?"

She glanced at Lion, who in return let out a small growl. The pink animal was still displeased that he had to make a portal to that led to the man he hated as his eyes slowly began to glow white.

He tried to stop the dread within him from growing. But his fear continued to overwhelm him as it twisted his heart. He could once again see the monster from his dreams cruel, pink eyes.

This...he had to be just paranoid. It was just the awful feelings within him making him see things that weren't there. Forcing him to ask ridiculous questions when there was no need.

There was no way he could be right.

* * *

He never thought a town could be so...quiet.

Josuke rode his motorcycle through an empty street. He was going at about ten miles as he looked around at the buildings that surrounded him. Most were painted some shade of blue, with a few exceptions here and there. He had passed a number of stores, and some of them looked rather...interesting, if their names were anything to go by.

Really, who named a clothing store "We Have Shirts?"

But the thing that got his attention was the absolute lack of people. He had yet to see anyone walking around since he rode into town.

And that felt wrong.

He had read that Beach City was mostly a place where people go to vacation, so there should have been some people out and perhaps hanging out with friends. Tourist traveling along the curbs to try and find a place to take photos. There should be at least some people going into the numerous stores he had seen.

But there was no one.

It was like this town was...dead.

And that made his grip on the handles tighten.

That bastard had something to do with this. He knew that Kira Yoshikage was responsible for the town's lack of life. That murderer had already left his mark on this town, and now the people were suffering because of him.

Anger rose within him as he was reminded that the master of Killer Queen was most likely enjoying this emptiness. That the silence smothering the town made his "peaceful life" all the better.

His mouth was in a deep frown. His expression tightened as his eyes narrowed behind his helmet. A purple aura once again surrounded his body.

But after a moment, he dispelled it.

His hatred was only distracting him now. It wouldn't help him find that bastard, and right now, all it did was make him lose his cool when he needed to keep a calm mind.

When he actually found Kira, then he would allow his hatred to cut loose.

But finding that murderer would not be easy. Kira had been able to hide from the police of Morioh for years. He knew how to blend in and act normal; how to fake being human with frightening ease. Even if he asked anyone if they had seen someone suspicious the only answer he would get would be no. Not that he was going to ask anyone in this town such a question. He wasn't even going to ask if they had seen someone matching Kira's description. And that was because of one simple ability Kira possessed.

Bites the Dust.

_My Killer Queen enters a person's body, and if anyone asks the infected person any form of question about Kira Yoshikage, they will blow up into thousands of pieces._

That bastard wasn't lying as he explained his Stand's new power. In that moment, Kira thought that he had won and saw no need to keep secrets. Everything he told him was the truth, no matter how ridiculous it sounded.

He let out a sigh. God damn it. Why did that psychopath have to get such a pain in the ass of a power?

He wouldn't ask any of the locals for any sort of help. He couldn't take any chances, especially when that bastard seemed to be stronger than ever. For all he knew Bites the Dust could be even more powerful then-.

He heard a sound coming from behind him. He brought his bike to a complete stop as his head whipped behind him.

All he saw was an empty road.

He felt his eyes move into a glare. The sound that he heard was gentle and swift. It had only been for a second but he knew he heard something. It was like the wind except...different.

He remembered one of Kira's new abilities. And he could suddenly see that black Killer Queen glaring at him.

...Could that sound have been the sentry?

His eyes flickered to every building around him. There seemed to be no one here. He seemed to be the only person traveling this street.

But that didn't mean anything. Just because he didn't see anyone didn't mean something wasn't here. It didn't mean that something wasn't watching him.

The street suddenly felt very cramped. Even though it was wide and separated into two lanes, he suddenly felt like there was barely any space.

He let out a breath.

Well, it didn't really matter if he was being watched. In fact, the whole reason he was driving around town was to get that bastard's attention. Kira Yoshiakge knew he was coming. Which meant that he had plenty of time to think of who knows how many plans to deal with him. So he decided that he would walk into whatever trap that bastard had in store for him. It was the easiest way to find out where he was.

And after that murderer unleashed his plan, he would overcome it and proceed to beat him to death.

He took his hand off the brakes as his bike began to move again.

The determination within him vanquished any feelings of anxiety left in his body. His resolve was firm and would not waver, not after everything he went through to get here.

He revved up the throttle slightly as his bike accelerated. His eyes looked to the roof of the buildings surrounding him.

No matter what, he would win. He had to win. For his friends. For the people this bastard murdered as he smiled. He had to make up for all the times he failed. He had to make sure his mistakes would end here. That Kira Yoshikage would meet his end once and for all.

It was the least he could do for the dead. For the souls that were still in agony.

He was coming up on an intersection. He began to turn his bike to the left as his eyes gazed at that buildings.

For every horrible atrocity Kira had committed, he would get revenge for everyone who had been-.

His eyes looked away from the buildings and glanced back in front of him as he turned onto the adjoining street.

Just in time to see a man not even ten feet away from his bike as he walked along a crosswalk. He saw the man's eyes widen at the same time his own pair did.

"Shit!"

As he shouted, he quickly grabbed the brakes with all his strength. The bike immediately came to a screeching halt, his body jerking forward because of the sudden stop. The man meanwhile had taken a short jump backward as he let out a startled scream. The brown paper bag in his hand hit the road as several grocery items fell out and spilled onto the street.

But while he had made the man spill his shopping bag, he avoided hitting him.

The moment his bike had completely stopped, he propped up the kickstand and took the keys out of the ignition. He then hopped off his bike and ran to the man.

"Are you alright?!"

He took off his helmet as he got within a few feet of the man, placing it under his armpit as he crouched down. He reached out with one arm as he watched the man rub his head.

Now that he was so close to the man, he got a better look at his features. He looked like he was in his thirties, with long hair that seemed to be in the shape of a mullet. His hair reached all the way to his waist, though at the very top of his head he was bald, which was somewhat strange to him. He wore a dark green turtleneck that clung to his rather plump body along with dark blue jeans and dark brown boots.

The man let out a small grunt as he looked up at the extended arm he offered him.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

The man grabbed his hand and proceeded to pull himself up. Once he was standing, he let go of his hand as brushed off any dust that had gotten onto his person when he fell.

"You just startled me."

He let out a sigh. The last thing he needed to do was hurt some random passerby.

"Thank God. I thought I was gonna hit you for a second."

His paranoia had gotten the better of him and made him think that he was being watched. But as he quickly glanced around, he saw nothing, and he still wasn't being attacked. If Kira was observing him, then now would be the greatest time to attack him as he was seemingly distracted.

But nothing attacked him. The worry in his chest had made him feel hunted when there wasn't anything dangerous around him. And that because of it, he almost hit a man with his bike.

"I'm sorry!"

He bowed his head forward at the man.

"I wasn't watching where I was going! This is completely my fault!"

He expected for the man to be at the very least mildly perturbed. Perhaps spout an insult which he would accept without so much as a blink.

"Umm..."

He did not expect for the man to sound uncomfortable. He slowly got out of his bow and looked up. The man was glancing to the side as he rubbed the back of his head abashedly.

"You don't have to bow, man, like I said it's fine. No harm done."

Oh, right.

This wasn't Japan. This was America. And in the west, people don't bow when they apologize. He had...forgotten for a moment where he was.

He fought back against the sorrow that he had felt so many times throughout his journey. And he realized that he still hadn't replied to the man across from him. The air around them seemed stiff and almost smothering.

He coughed into his fist. He could feel heat rising to his cheeks; he didn't want to seem rude or strange to this man after all.

"Sorry about that. I'm...still getting used to this place."

He had said the first thing that came to his mind without any real consideration. He then walked away from the man and towards the pile of groceries that now littered the street. He crouched down and reached for the paper bag as he grabbed a head of lettuce before placing it inside the bag.

"Hey, you don't have to help."

The man got on his knees as he sat next to him.

"I beg to differ. I'm the one that caused this mess, it's the least I could do."

The moment he said that, the man smiled. He let out a small laugh as he grabbed a nearby can of tomato paste.

"Heh, Not gonna lie, I don't know a lot of bikers that would actually apologize to me if they did the same thing you did. Let alone offer to pick up my groceries."

The man's expression became contemplative as he dropped the can into the brown paper bag.

"Then again, I don't know a lot of bikers."

His lips moved into a grin.

"Well, I wouldn't call myself a biker."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I just...borrowed this bike to get here."

"Wow, you must have one friend who would lend you a sweet ride like that."

He did not have any such friend. At least here, anyway.

"So, you're new here?"

"Yeah, just arrived like...twenty minutes ago."

"Wow, guess that probably means I'm the first person from Beach City you've talked to then."

"You are, actually."

The man smiled again. This time it was even bigger than before as he stood up. The brown paper bag in his hands was once again full of groceries that they had picked up off the ground.

"Well then, let me introduce myself. The name's Greg Universe."

He also stood up as the man across from his extended his arm for a handshake. He quickly shook the offered hand with his own gloved hand.

"I'm Hi-, I mean, I'm Josuke Higashikata."

He had to remind himself that here, people don't give their family names first.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Universe."

"You can just call me Greg."

"Alright then."

When their handshake ended, Greg looked him over. His eyes began to narrow as they locked in on his forehead. No wait, he was looking at...his...hair.

"Hey man, can I just say that you're hair-."

His right hand was suddenly in a very tight fist. A familiar anger was ignited within him as he frowned.

Here it comes, the insults. No one had yet to comment on his hair throughout his journey, but that did not mean he missed the glances that some people sent his way. It looked like he had finally met someone who actually had the balls to-.

"Is awesome!"

...Wait, what?

His unclenched his fist as he stared at Greg.

"Are you being sarcastic?"

Those words left him in an instant as his eyes narrowed. He thought that maybe this was some sort of joke. And he'd be an idiot to fall-.

"Heck no man, that hair is seriously wicked! I've never seen anything like it before!"

There wasn't even a hint of a lie in Greg's voice. The man across from him meant every word he said.

A wide smile stretched across his face.

"Hehe...thank you."

"How did you even get it into that shape?"

"Well, it just takes a lot of effort and patience. The type of comb helps too."

"Do you use any type of hair products?"

"Usually whatever's lying around. I don't really have a specific brand I constantly use."

"Man, Steven would love-."

Greg's expression changed the moment he said "Steven." His lips went from a smile to a remorseful frown. The sorrow swirling on the man's face was cold as he let out a sigh. Something was wrong, that much was obvious. But he didn't feel like it was his place to ask what. He was a stranger to this man, after all.

Neither he nor Greg spoke for a while. And there wasn't a single sound around them to disturb the quiet.

It was then the man across from his seemed to realize the sudden lack of talking as his eyes widen slightly. He let out an awkward laugh before he spoke.

But as he did, he noticed that the enthusiasm from before was all but gone now.

"Oh, um, sorry about that. Didn't mean to just stop talking all of sudden, I was just...thinking about some things."

"It's fine, really."

"So...where are you from?"

He thought about how he should answer this question. He remembered how Jotaro once said that half-truths are sometimes better than complete lies.

"...Japan."

"Woah, you're pretty far from home then, huh?"

You have no idea.

"Yup."

He wouldn't let the melancholy within him slip into his voice. He couldn't get sad, not now. Not when he had to find that killer and bring him to justice.

No distractions, Josuke.

"So, why did you come to Beach City?"

"Oh, I'm just...visiting."

"Well, I won't lie..."

Greg trailed off as his eyes glanced at the buildings around him.

"You picked a bad time to visit. Usually, it's never this quiet here. It's actually really cool when there are people around here."

"I figured as much."

Greg sighed as he looked at the floor. Something about that expression was familiar to him. The sorrow in his eyes, the regret the filled his entire face, it all looked like he had seen it before.

And he had.

For the expression he wore was almost the exact same one Okuyasu had on when he lost his brother Keicho.

"Who died?'

Shit. Those words left his mouth before he could help it. He saw Greg flinch as he bit his lower lip. God damn it, he usually had far more tact than that.

"...I made it that obvious, huh?"

The sadness in his voice was highlighted by a deep pain present in every word.

"I'm sorry, I didn't...it's just, your face reminded me of someone I know and well...it brought up some memories."

"It's...fine. I just..."

Greg didn't finish as the pain in his eyes grew. Sorrow drenched his expression, and he could almost see just how

"It hasn't been easy since she was...Killed."

Killed.

Not died. Killed.

It did not take him long to realize what had happened.

Anger burned within him, and it was the same anger he had felt so many times before. The same wrath that had been born when he first learned about that blonde bastard. The only difference was that now his fury was more scorching than ever.

He made sure to keep his expression the same as Greg continued.

"I...geez, I still can't believe it happened...right in front of him, too."

He did not ask who "him" was. That was far too personal. In fact, he shouldn't have even started this conversation in the first place. He just...that expression he made reminded him of all the pain Okuyasu had gone through since he lost his brother. And he remembered how he did his best help his bro out. A part of him must have wanted to do the exact same thing here.

But he couldn't.

"I...it just really su...stinks. I mean...it's almost as bad as-."

"You don't have to tell me anything else."

He interrupted Greg as he glanced to the side. He couldn't bring himself to look at the misery within his face. Misery that...he had caused.

All because of his mistakes. All because he couldn't stop that murderer from hurting anyone else.

"This...sounds like something you should only share with people you know."

"Well, it doesn't really matter."

He raised a brow as he looked back towards Greg. The man's eyes were gazing at the floor, his hands in his jean's pockets.

"Everyone saw it. It happened right in front of a crowd of people. You have to be blind to miss the explosion."

His last words confirmed what he already knew. Kira was responsible for yet another murder. The blazing anger that he had gotten so used to feeling once again rose in his chest. Though this time, it was accompanied by another emotion that slowly enveloped his mind.

Confusion.

Kira wanted to remain as inconspicuous as possible. He'd hide his true nature from anyone. He'd always maintain the front of a human being while carrying out his murders in secret.

So why the hell would he execute someone while they were in public?

An answer immediately came to his mind.

Because whoever this person was, she had seen that bastards true colors.

"Besides...if anything, her death affects you and everyone here as well."

He raised a brow.

"I...don't think I follow you."

How could a person who he didn't even know dying affect him? He had literally just arrived here, and granted the fact that someone died did anger him, he didn't think that Greg knew that.

So how was this death related to him?

"Well...the person who died was someone who protected this town."

"Oh. You mean like a cop?"

"No, well kinda, I guess. She was more a part of a group that dedicated themselves to protecting the people who lived here."

That sounded like what he and the other Stand Users of Morioh did when they learned about Kira. But what-.

"She was an alien that learned to love this planet and wanted to protect the humans here."

His thoughts stopped for a moment.

He blinked. He blinked a few times after the first blink. He thought he misheard him at first. He thought that perhaps he had mistranslated the words in his head.

But after realizing he did no such thing, he realized that yes, this man just said that there were aliens in this town.

He had said it like they were talking about the weather.

"...An alien?"

"Yeah."

Either Greg did not hear the disbelief in his voice or he chose to ignore it, because within seconds he continued.

"She was a tiny green gem with a lot of heart."

Tiny? Green? Was that really what aliens looked like?

"She was someone who was once apart of the other aliens that tried to destroy this planet."

Wait a damn minute "destroy the planet?" What the hell kind of alien was she? Was she like those aliens from  _War of the Worlds?_

"But then she changed and became a part of the Crystal Gems. She fought for the people here and protected us from giant monsters and so much worse stuff."

Giant monsters?

"She found a group of people here she could call a family. And I was honored to know her."

There was a pause.

And he tried his best not to look shocked.

Though, he was failing miserably at doing so

"Um..."

Greg looked at him. He seemed to notice his expression for the first time as he raised his brow.

"...What is it?"

What is it? That's all you have to say?

"Just so I'm clear...this isn't some American joke, right?"

Greg's eyes narrowed slightly, somewhat offended by his words. But in the next second, his stopped narrowing his eyes as the man stared at him.

"...No."

"And...I don't want this to sound like an insult but..."

He rubbed the back of his hair.

"...You're not on drugs, right?"

"What?!"

Greg shouted slightly. The outrage in the man's words made it clear he should have chosen his words better.

"No! I've never once done drugs!"

He immediately put his hands in a placating gesture.

"Sorry, sorry, I really didn't mean to offend you. It's just-."

"It's just what?"

Greg's eyes were once again narrowed.

"...Do you honestly expect me to believe that?"

Now, it wasn't that he  _couldn't_  believe in the existence of aliens. Hell, he had met one in his world...probably...maybe...God damn it, he really wanted to know just what the hell Mikitaka was.

But, even if his strange friend wasn't an alien, he constantly battled against supernatural forces most would never believe in. His definition of what was possible had been greatly expanded upon since he learned about the world of Stands. He would be an idiot to dismiss something just because ordinary people would consider it ridiculous or impossible.

However, if someone wanted him to believe in  _very_  outrageous claims like this, they would have to show some evidence to support them.

And the fact that he not once seen any sort of articles online, any sort of newspaper shouting at the discovery of sentient life, the fact that nowhere else in this country did he see any sort of mentions to alien life made him just a tad suspicious.

"What?! I'm not lying! Do you think I would...make up someone I care about dying!?"

No, he did not. The pain in Greg's eyes looked genuine. The remorse drowning his expression wasn't fake, he could tell. The fact that Greg. had told him his friend had exploded did add to his credibility.

However...

"Look...you're telling me aliens exist?"

"Yes."

Greg said that like he was stating a fact everyone knew.

"...So, why exactly aren't scientist currently freaking out?"

"Huh?"

"I mean, you're making it sound like everyone in this place knows about the existence of aliens."

"Well...most do."

"So then, why isn't NASA or some government organization like that announcing plans to venture even deeper into space. I mean, the existence of sentient life would be a pretty big discovery to just about every scientist in the world, right?"

Even in 1999, scientist were constantly trying to discover new life.

Greg blinked a few times at his words.

"Um, well, the Gems-."

"Gems?"

"That's the name of their race."

"I see."

Some of the doubt festering within his chest slipped into his voice.

"They've been a part of humanity for a long time, and most people have just grown to view them as, well, normal."

"...But, if people view aliens as normal, then why isn't there a bigger emphasis on examining the culture of this sentient race."

If people knew about a sentient alien race, everyone would want to know everything they could about their culture. Alien life just being seen as normal as say, a box of tissues could never happen. Every group and organization on earth would want to know as much as they can about the people who were literally from another planet.

"I've traveled a very long distance across this country, and yet I haven't heard even a single mention of aliens. Wouldn't there be, I don't know, casual mention of alien life in everyday society? Organizations dedicated to studying their culture or people using the things from their society and implementing them into our own?"

He saw Greg blink again. There was hesitation in his expression now. It seemed like his questions were making the man consider his next words carefully.

"Okay...I don't know about...all of that stuff, but, I'm telling the truth. I can see why you'd be skeptical, but if you asked anyone here, well if they were out anyway, they would tell you about the aliens living in the giant temple on that hill!"

Greg pointed a finger over the buildings. He followed the direction he was pointing in, and when he squinted his eyes, he could partially see a hill. But not a giant temple.

"I don't see any temple."

"Wait, sorry, I mean engraved in the hill."

"...Engraved?"

"Yeah. The Gems carved out the temple right on the face of the hill. You can't see it from here."

...that sounded rather convenient. And somewhat impractical, at least to him.

"Before you said that...giant monsters attack this place, right?"

"Okay, I know that sounds dangerous, but the Gems have a good handle on that."

"And what does the local government have to say about that?"

"What?"

"I mean, wouldn't someone post that stuff online or call someone else to let them know about the dangers here? And if I worked for the government and learned that a town that was attacked by giant monsters, I would send in a strike team to deal with them. Kinda like what the people in every  _Godzilla_ movie have done. I mean, I don't know how effective that be, but at the very least I would do something."

"Well-."

"Also, if this place is attacked by giant monsters, wouldn't the military be worried about people getting hurt and, I don't know, advise people not to go here?"

"I mean, I guess-."

"And, with respect, but if this town is attacked by aliens, then how is it able to sustain itself? I don't see how you can market a place that is attacked by giant monsters as a vacation spot for tourists. How does anyone even have jobs or-"

"I'm not lying!"

Greg wasn't quite shouting, but he did raise his voice. The man wanted him to believe his words, and a part of him did want to. Greg seemed like a good enough man and was obviously hurting due to his loss, but everything he had said so far was...suspicious, to put it lightly.

"Look...do you have any evidence of these aliens?"

"Evidence?"

"Yeah. Like, pictures or something."

"Well...not on me."

"I see."

The doubt in his voice kept rising.

"But, look..."

He took in a long breath.

"The Crystal Gems, the group of aliens that protect this town, this planet, are real. And...they just lost someone very important to them."

Whoever this man just loss was probably as close as family; the pain on his face told him that much. This man didn't seem to be lying, and the sorrow swirling in his expression was real, there were no doubts about that.

But still...aliens?

Perhaps the man had...gone a bit over the deep end since the death of whoever he lost. Because, well, if he honestly expected him to believe that aliens lived in this town without any evidence what so ever, then-.

He heard something from behind him again. It was the same sound from before, the same gentle noise that was easy to hear in the empty streets. The noise that sounded like wind but was to...precise to be wind.

He slowly turned around.

And his eyes widened.

All the way at the end of the street, he saw it.

Both of his hands immediately went into tight fists. The leather of his gloves bit into his skin.

It was standing there, shoulders slouched forward as those pink eyes looked at him.

His mouth went from a frown to a feral snarl.

"Dude is something-."

"Leave. Right now."

He did not face Greg as he gave that order. His eyes were firmly fixed on the monstrosity that stood hundreds of feet away. But even from so far away, he could still see a black mist like substance was gathering around its feet.

"Wait, what's-."

"Leave, right now!"

Greg stopped talking, and he did not need to turn around to know that the man was worried. His words had suddenly become severe, every muscle in his body was tense for seemingly no reason. It looked like he was preparing to fight someone. And since Greg was the only man on the street...

"Hey, dude, I think you need to calm down."

The mist at its feet moved. As swiftly as a gale, strands of black mist traveled upwards through the air, slithering like snakes until they reached its' black leather palms. The mist then began to whirl, each black wisp spinning right above both hands like a small tornado. Each tendril of mist began to merge with one another as they continued to spin, and he could see them taking shape into a familiar object.

Within a second, the black mist finished converging as he saw two black orbs spinning at the very center of the monster's palms.

And then Let Me Live pulled back its arms as far as it could right before chucking them forward. The orbs flew off his hands as they were hurled through the air, traveling so fast they were already halfway up the street within seconds.

A purple aura surrounded him once again.

And then he moved.

He ran forward, focusing on the orbs as they were quickly approaching both him and Greg. His motorcycle was only a few feet away from him, and once he was in range, he channeled the energy within him to his right leg. Said leg quickly turned pink, bulging muscles accompanied by metal shin guards now covered his limb.

He pulled his leg up to his chest before kicking forward. The sole of his foot hit his motorcycle right in its center and sent it flying.

"Holy-!"

Gregs confused cry was cut short as his motorcycle flipped through the air. The bike hit the two orbs head-on just as they came about twenty feet away from hitting them.

And then there was a giant explosion. The explosion didn't make a single sound, only silence accompanied it. Columns of flames rose high above the surrounding buildings; the shockwaves from the blast reverberated throughout the street. He was so used to the explosions of that bastard he was barely even fazed, but Greg wasn't as the shockwaves sent him falling on his butt.

This time, he made his voice sound as furious as he possibly could make it.

"Get the hell out of here, now!"

With all the fury burning in his face, he knew that he looked absolutely terrifying. His anger told Greg bad of an idea it would be to not listen to him. The balding adult's eyes were engulfed with fear as he quickly got up. He then turned and ran as fast as he could, reaching into his pocket and pulled out a cellphone. He watched until Greg had turned around the corner and vanished from his sight, hopefully finding someplace to hide.

He slowly turned his head back to face what was left on the explosion. He watched as the flames licked the nearby buildings' walls as embers fell to the ground. And as the fire from the explosion slowly died down, he could see an outline moving within the remaining flames.

Slowly, Let Me Live strolled out of the flames, it's pinks eyes glaring at him.

He returned that look with an equally vicious glare. And then, the sentry of Killer Queen spoke.

_**"Josuke Higahikata...it's been a while, hasn't it?"** _

The slow manner in which it spoke made the anger within him all the more heated. That distorted voice brought up so many memories. Of his friends dying, of being transported to that frozen wasteland, of the voices of the dead.

Right now, he couldn't see Let Me Live. Instead, all he could see was Kira Yoshikage.

The purple aura around him grew.

He tossed his backpack aside.

The air in front of him glimmered a soft pink.

And Crazy Diamond appeared only a few feet away from him. His Stand floated in the air as its own glare was even more ferocious than his.

* * *

How had they been so blind?

Pearl was the only one standing in the room. She seemed to be the only one that could. Amethyst was on the couch as she stared at the floor, hugging her knees as she had been doing for the past twenty minutes. Garnet kept muttering the same three words as her back laid against the door; even with her visor, she knew that her leader's expression had as much sorrow in it as her own.

Her grip on the counter got tighter.

Why...why hadn't she seen how much Steven was hurting? Why didn't she realize it sooner?

_You don't care about anyone other than yourselves._

That...that wasn't true. She cared, she could never stop caring about Steven. She had always-.

_I can't count how many times you've called me Rose!_

She flinched so badly it was like someone struck her.

She...she had done that. She had made...so many mistakes before. But...she learned from them. She did, beyond a shadow of a doubt. There was no way she hadn't. But those words...pierced her very core. They had hurt, of course they would hurt since they were coming from Steven, but...they struck something within her mind. Something that made her hear those exact same words over and over again.

Her frown got even deeper as tears were once again brimming in her eyes.

She had never thought Steven could hate anyone. That boy seemed to be a bottomless pit of empathy. But every word he screamed at them held a hatred that she couldn't believe came from Steven; the boy who always tried to see the best in everyone had such a vicious anger in his eyes as he let them know how they made him feel.

The boy who could forgive even his enemies told them all to fuck off.

...Damn it. How...why didn't she see it? How could she not have seen how much he hated her? How her shoving her problems onto him only made him worse?

How could she not even see that he hated his own mother because of everything she had said.

She remembered the day Rose left. And the promise she made that day. She was doing an absolutely horrible job at keeping it.

She heard a noise coming from a few feet away from her. She turned her head and saw that it was a phone. Steven's phone. He must have left it here without realizing it. It was vibrating slightly, and when she looked at the screen she could see an image of Greg with the words "Best Dad" appearing underneath it. Steven was receiving a call from his father.

She let out a sigh. She didn't see the need to pick up the phone. She didn't want to pick it up either. All of her strength was gone as she couldn't see it returning anytime soon. They would have to tell him what happened with Steven soon, but definitely not now. Whatever Greg needed couldn't be that important.

The phone stopped vibrating. And then she heard Steven's voice.

"Hey, this is Steven Universe. Once you hear the beep, leave a message and I'll get back as soon as I can."

Even though it was a prerecorded message and not the real thing, she still flinched. She was sure that the others did as well. Even just hearing a recording of Steven was enough to make the guilt within her all the punishing.

There was a beep.

And then there was a frantic screaming. She actually jumped a little as the words reached her.

"Steven dude, pick up right now!"

She had never heard Greg shout so loudly before. His voice was full of fear as she could almost see his widen eyes over the phone. Amethyst and Garnet's heads perked up as their attention was immediately drawn to the phone.

"Sh-I mean, stuff is really going down here! I don't know what, but there's definitely something really bad attacking Beach City right now!"

Her eyes widen.

Something was...could it be...

"Please hurry up and-!"

She immediately reached for the phone and answered it, fingers pressing down on the green "accept" button with far to much force.

"Greg, are you-."

"Pearl! I'm so glad you picked up, it's starting to get really bad here!"

"What do you-?"

"I mean, I'm not even sure if that guy's alright. He saw whatever made that blast but he just chose to stay there for some reason!"

"What guy-?"

"You guys have to get down here right now! People are already going crazy and-."

"Greg!"

She interrupted him before he could continue his ramblings. She only just now noticed that Amethyst and Garnet were standing right next to her.

Her voice was deadly serious as she asked the questions that were no doubt on her friends' mind.

"What's going on?"

"You mean you don't know?! How could you not know?!"

She winced. She knew he wasn't referring to their...talk with Steven but-.

She shook her head.

Now was far from the time.

"No, we don't know."

There was a beat.

"Then you need to look outside right now."

Neither she or anyone in the room had ever heard the human sound so grave before.

* * *

It waited.

It was weird watching those three move. They had no heat signature, so there wasn't the usual bright red mixed with orange contained in the outline of a meat bag. Instead, what it saw was just an emptiness. No heat, no signs of life, just nothing. All it saw was what looked like a meat bag, at least when it came to limbs and body appearance, with a hollowness in place of heat.

It was like looking at a God damn rock that moved like a person.

Heh. It supposed that was rather accurate.

It watched as the rocks ran out of their home. It watched as they stood on the very edge of the wooden deck near the railings and up at the hill. It could not hear them, but it didn't need to.

Even for not meat bags, it could tell fear when it saw it. And by God did these rocks wreak of it.

It would have laughed. It will laugh very soon.

Just not yet.

Because right now, it had a job to do.

* * *

"What the hell?"

Wide eyes and a vulgar question was Amethyst's response to what they saw. Pearl couldn't help but agree with her words as they all lifted their heads as far up as they could.

They all stared at the large trails of smoke they saw rising into the grey clouds in the sky. They could see smoke from here. Even with a hill that was hundreds of feet tall, they could see wisps of smoke.

"Greg, what's going on in Beach City?!"

She shouted at the phone in her hand. The fear slithering within her body was lodged into every word she spoke.

"I don't know! First, there was one explosion-!"

Explosion?

Her fingers tightened on the phone.

So she was right. Whatever was causing this was the same thing that killed Peridot.

"And then-."

There was a rumble on the other end. Whatever it was caused Greg to stumble in his words as he let out several small gasps. After a few seconds, he was back on the phone as he screamed.

"Then there's like explosion after explosion. I mean, I can't hear it, but you kind of have to be blind to miss the fire!"

Can't hear it?

She shook her head.

Never mind that, there were more important things to do now. Like making sure Steven was okay.

"Greg is Steven with you!?"

"What!?"

Even with the rumbling and faint screams on the other end, Greg's shout dwarfed both of them. His scream told her exactly what he was feeling right now. From Confusion to shock, sorrow to horror, she could almost feel every emotion the human was going through.

No wait, she  _was_  going through those emotions. She felt them strangle her as she realized what Greg's cry meant.

Steven wasn't with him.

"Why isn't he with-?!"

She never heard what he said because Garnet's shout canceled his voice out.

"Pearl, move right now!"

By the time their leader finished, she felt something hit her right in her stomach.

Hard.

She let out a painful gasp as she was sent off her feet. She careened through the air as she crashed through the wooden railings on the deck, now nothing more than splinters. And as she flew, she could still feel it.

She could feel whatever had hit her still on her stomach.

And then all she could see were flames.

* * *

The explosion happened at almost the exact moment Pearl was sent flying. Amethyst now knew why Garnet had been shouting at Pearl to move.

Too bad she couldn't have given her a similar warning. The explosion was absolutely massive as she felt the fire burn bits of her hair and clothes. She was a Gem, and as such, couldn't be burned unless something was very hot. But, there was still the force from the blast she had to deal with. And the force made it impossible to keep her eyes open as she was sent flying. Wind rushed against her skin as her body spiraled through the air. She was eventually able to open her eyes just in time to see herself crash head first into the sand from the beach.

Her body bounced off the soft sand as she was sent tumbling across the beach. Sand was kicked up into the air until she eventually stopped herself by digging her hands into the ground. She got up as fast as she could as she looked around.

The Beach House was on fire. The wooden deck was covered in flames as the front door had been turned to ash. Parts of the roof had been blown to smithereens as shingles fell onto the beach below. She could partially see small columns of flames inside their house and slowly getting bigger with each moment.

She turned her head to try and find her friends. And after a moment, she did. About twenty feet away to the left of the now burnt stairs, Garnet was slowly rising from the sand, small flames clinging to her afro before she quickly smothered them with her hand. Soot covered parts of her outfit as her head turned in every direction. And near the far end of the beach, she saw Pearl. Her tall friend had a harder time getting up, since she had been at the very center, she was in more pain than both her and Garnet.

"Are you guys okay!?"

Garnet and Pearl both turned towards her when they heard her shout.

"Ye-Yes, I'm fine!"

Pearl's answer was somewhat shaky as she slowly stood up.

"I...I'm fine as well!"

There was a slight tremble in Garnet's voice. She must have been more hurt than-.

"Amethyst, did you see what caused that explosion!?"

Pearl's question made her blink. Her mind went back to that moment, and she realized, she hadn't seen anything. One moment Pearl was talking to Greg, and then with no warning except for Garnet's scream, there was an explosion.

What the hell-?

She heard something.

It sounded kinda like...wheels?

She turned around. She didn't see anything. But she had definitely heard something, she knew that for a fact. But where-?

"Amethyst, get out of there now!"

Her head whipped to Garnet. She could hear the dread consuming her voice, and for their leader who never showed any emotion unless the situation was beyond bad, that was not a good sign. Even though Garnet was so far away, she knew that her expression must have been full of fear.

Her head began to swivel left and right.

"What?! What is it!? Where's the-!?"

She heard another sound. This time, she knew where it was coming from.

Her shoulder.

And in addition to that sound, she heard a voice.

_**"Hey..."** _

That voice was so hoarse. So rough that it actually made her want to cover her ears; it sounded like metal being grated by a train.

She slowly turned her head towards her left shoulder.

And saw nothing there.

But she did feel a weight. She did see the fabric of her shoulder wrinkle like something was right on top of it.

And she definitely heard that same voice coming from there.

**_"Look over here."_ **

And once again she was swallowed by another explosion.

* * *

Something was wrong.

Josuke charged forward, his Crazy Diamond floating right by his side as it raised its fist. Let Me Live was running towards them as well, sprinting down the street as within seconds they were only a few feet apart.

His Crazy Diamond made the first move.

_**"DORA!"** _

His Stand had moved so that it was now between him and the black Killer Queen. In an instant, Crazy Diamond launched an uppercut that was aimed to hit Let Me Live right in its chin. The black Killer Queen's head dodged to the right and without breaking its stride, it jumped forward as it pulled its right leg backward. It then threw a kick with incredible speed right at Crazy Diamond's face, but his Stand was faster as it brought its arms into a cross and blocked the kick. The strength of Let Me Live's attack, however, sent him skidding backward, leather boots digging into concrete as he felt his own arms shaking slightly.

There was something strange about the sentry.

Black mist was secreting from Let Me Live's back as it landed. The individual wisps were all moving towards its leather hands as they converged, and in a second two orbs were once again spinning in its palms. It then raised both arms over its head before throwing them forward. The orbs soared through the air, spinning all the way as they got closer to him.

**_"DORA!"_ **

His Stand moved in front of him and dug its fingers into the street, easily making holes in the cement. He heard the sound of the ground cracking and then watched as Crazy Diamond pulled out two large slabs of concrete easily half the size of his body. The pink-skinned warrior then threw both of the slabs at the spiraling spheres and he saw them hit the spiraling orbs head on.

Another silent explosion erupted into the air; his purple scarf fluttered against the intense winds from the blast. Boiling heat burned the very air around him as he felt himself sweat, the heat of the explosion seemed even stronger now than last time. Nearby buildings were now set on fire as parts of them fell to the ground as rubble. Once again he had turned another place into a war zone.

His eyes narrowed as the last bits of flames from the explosion faded. Let Me Live stood a good twenty feet away from him as the sentry watched him with its pink eyes. It did not move even an inch, remaining as still as a statue as it watched him.

Something was going on. The sentry had been fighting differently than last time. It hadn't turned into its mist form once since they began their battle. In addition to that, it paused at seemingly random times and just stared at him as it did now.

But...why?

_**"Josuke..."** _

For the first time since their fight began, Let Me Live spoke. It said its words in an even slower manner then it usually did.

_**"I'm...curious..."** _

It tilted its head to the left. Unfeeling eyes stared right his own as it paused. For several seconds, all he could hear was the crackling of the flames that surrounded him.

_**"How did...you find out about me?"** _

His eyes widen. He couldn't control the shock within him as it embedded itself in his face.

But then the shock gave way to another emotion. Anger. A burning anger that made his mouth turn into a snarl.

"Blowing up my friend was a pretty damn good way to let us know about your psychotic ass!"

The growl he let loose did not affect the black sentry in the slightest. He thought back to Shigechi. To Aya. To the voices of the dead.

And all of those thoughts made him all the more pissed off.

_You have to keep your cool no matter what._

Jotaros words quelled the flames within him. He needed to focus. He couldn't fall for that bastards tricks.

Let Me Live slowly shook its head.

_**"No...no...no. I'm not talking about after I...blew your friend up."** _

He saw its eyes narrow. Eyes that now held a sharpness that only daggers could match.

_**"I'm talking...about before."** _

The anger on his face faded. Confusion now began to wrap around his expression as he raised a brow.

"What?"

Let Me Live looked to the sky. With its emotionless features, its expression looked the same no matter what. But right now, to him, its face almost looked...contemplative.

_**"You see, when I first cornered your friend, he said some rather...interesting things."** _

...Shigechi? What had he-?

_**"He accused me...Of being the murderer that his friends were talking about. He said that I was the one...who killed Sugimoto Reimi."** _

His eyes were now in a glare. Let Me Live began to walk, not towards him but to the left as it still stared at the sky. It placed a gloved hand underneath its chin.

_**"How on earth...did you know there was a murderer in your town before I...Killed your friends."** _

Crazy Diamond fists clenched. He did the same.

_**"Did someone...tell you? That the murderer from all those years ago...was still killing people? Could it have been Kishibe Rohan that told you? That man...was there that night I killed her."** _

He was shaking. His Stand was doing the same as the aura around it grew.

_**"No...he was too traumatized to remember that night. When I learned there was a survivor that night...I learned everything I could about Rohan. I followed every newspaper article about him...and I learned that he had been so scared he couldn't recall that night without crying."** _

_You have to keep your cool no matter what_.

His anger grew worse. Those words did nothing to help.

_**"So who...could have told you? Tell me Josuke...do you know about...a certain legend in Morioh?"** _

That bastard finally turned to look at him.

**_"According to my father, it goes a little something like this...there's a road where spirits of the dead roam. If you find yourself there...you must never turn around or else an unstoppable power will drag you off somewhere. And if memory serves right...that road..."_ **

His teeth were gnashing together. Crazy Diamond's scowl was just as vicious as his own.

_**"Is supposedly around the place...where I killed Reimi. So my question, Josuke Higashikata, is this..."** _

Both his and Crazy Diamond's eyes were murderous.

_**"Did you talk to...Sugimoto Reimi's spirit?"** _

He began to walk forward. Crazy Diamond floated down and touched the ground as it to walked alongside its master.

_**"...You did, didn't you?"** _

Never before had he felt an unstoppable fury like this swallow his body whole.

_**"The girl I murdered so long ago...told you about her killer in hopes of getting...justice. She stayed behind...for fifteen years just to try and find her killer...and to stop him."** _

Never did his rage blaze like it did now.

_**"...I will not lie Josuke...That..."** _

That fucker brought a gloved hand to cover its lips like a schoolgirl. The corner of its eyes moved upwards.

_**"...Is absolutely hilarious."** _

And then it laughed.

A deep, throaty, distorted laugh.

And all he could see was Kira Yoshikage laughing at him. At all the people he had murdered.

And his hatred became absoutley massive. He felt it rise and burn throughout every part of him; his entire body was now full of nothing but red-hot rage. All he could feel was an intense heat that ignited from the very depths of his souls.

And now, the only thing he wanted to do, the only thing his body and mind commanded he accomplish, was one, simple thing.

To unleash every bit of animosity within him on this bastard.

Sorry, Mr. Jotaro, but...

A dark fire was the only thing within his pupils. There wasn't even a trace of his blue eyes left.

...Who the  _fuck_  could keep their cool now?

He was about five feet away from Let Me Live as it continued to laugh.

And then he let the sentry have it.

_**"DORARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARA!"** _

Crazy Diamond arms were blurs. Every punch it launched at the thing that looked so much like that fucker's Stand hit. Every powerful cross hit this thing on every inch of its body. But they didn't hurt it. Because just before each hit could do damage, just before he would have seen blood burst from its body, it turned its body to mist.

But he didn't stop. Not even when the only thing left of the sentry were strands of black mist.

_**"DORARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARA!"** _

His Stand continued its assault with even greater speed. Pink and silver arms tried to hit the gaseous energy that Let Me Live had become. Even when its punches went right through the mist, it still continued its assault. The sound of its blows breaking the sound barrier echoed throughout the blazing street.

And he let out a roar even more fearsome than Star Platinum's.

"YOU-!"

He was going to kill that murderer in the most gruesome ways.

"GODAMN-!"

He was going to make it so that his corpse wouldn't even resemble a human being.

"BASTARD!"

He was going to pummel Kira until his face was a bloody pool.

Crazy Diamond continued to roar as it fists continued to move even faster.

And in the middle of its barrage, the mist moved. In an instant, each tendril shot upward through the air. He followed the black mists movements as they traveled towards one of the roofs of the nearby buildings. The strands merged with one another, slowly forming the shape of that fucking bastard's Stand. It looked at him from down below with one leg crossed over the other, bringing its hands together before resting them on its lap.

_**"My...my...my... I don't think I've ever seen you this angry Josuke."** _

The top left of its head was slowly turning to mist. Once half of its face had become black strands just as it spoke again.

_**"I wonder how angry you'll be...once I make more Sugimoto Reimi's."** _

His eyes widened.

_**"Catch me if you can, Higashikata."** _

And then its entire body turned into mist as he watched it flutter through the air and away from him.

Oh crap!

He ran. His eyes looking towards the grey sky as he followed the movements of the mist. He wouldn't let that bastard have its way. He refused to let him claim another life.

He would not fail again.

He could see the sky momentary light up with blue as the sound of thunder rumbled through the street.

* * *

_**"How has Homeworld had such problems with you cunts!?"** _

Amethyst groaned as that voice awoke her. Holy...that explosion hit her like a train. How long had she even been out?

She slowly got up and rubbed the back of her head. The black spots in her vision began to fade as she could see the beach again. But now, she couldn't even see the temple from here, the blast had knocked her so far she could see the boardwalk a good distance away behind her. The fight had been moved and she could see her friends fighting...something.

Far away from the actual battle on the edge of the beach where the waves hit, she could see Pearl holding her spear with one hand as she backflipped in the air before landing on the sand. She saw Garnet jump back with her gauntlets out as she too landed on the sand before her head whipped left and right.

And she saw that on the sand there was something moving. She couldn't see what it was, but she saw the tracks it made. They were like tracks a small tank might make if it were running along the beach.

Except a tank couldn't move as quickly as this thing did.

Whatever this invisible thing was, it was fast. It moved in a zigzag like patterns across the beach as sand was constantly kicked into the air, causing a large cloud to surround both Garnet and Pearl that was growing thicker by the moment.

She would have run towards them, but the moment she took a step, she stumbled. She fell to her knees as the sounds of her friends fighting seemed so distant all of sudden. Her head was ringing as she brought a hand to her forehead. Her vision was once again fading as she felt her eyes beginning to close.

Damn it, that explosion hit three times harder than any of Jasper's punches.

"Garnet is your future vision telling you anything right now!?"

Even with her voice sounding so distorted to her ears, she could still hear the worry in Pearl's words.

"I don't-somethings wrong with my future vision! Whatever this thing is it's somehow-!"

Garnet didn't finish, because wherever that thing was, it unleashed another explosion. And this one was even bigger than the last one. The flames from the explosion rose high into the air, nearby birds who were almost caught in it now flew away as fast as they could. The blast seemed to get bigger with each second, she could feel the winds from the explosion hit her as her long hair swayed from the force.

And from within the flames, she saw Pearl and Garnet fly out, their bodies twirling uncontrolably as they crashed hard into the sand. She shook her head and ran towards her friends, her gemstone glowing a bright purple as she pulled out her whip with one hand.

And as the flames died and the smoke began to clear, she could see more tracks being made in the sand. Tracks that led right to Garnet and Pearl who were still laying down on their stomachs as they struggled to get back up.

Her eyes widened.

"No, you don't!"

She threw her whip as hard as she could. Her weapon cracked, the rope lashing forward as the segmented ends wrapped around both Pearl and Garnet waist. Once they the lashes were fully tied around her friends, she pulled her whip back. Pearl and Garnet were lifted into the air as she saw something glow red just as they began their flight.

And a second after a glow, there was another explosion.

She noticed that it didn't make even a single sound. Somehow, th explosion was incredibly quiet.

She saw her friends just miss getting scorched by the flames as she continued to pull with all her strength. Once they were right above her, she twirled her whip and watched as it unwrapped her friends as they began to fall. This time, they landed on their feet instead of crashing on the sand.

"Thank you, Amethyst."

She nodded at Garnets words before turning her attention to Pearl. Unlike Garnet, she wasn't able to stand for long as she fell to one knee. She saw her fingers dig into the sand as she let out long gasps.

"What...what are we dealing with?"

Her eyes widened.

"Wait...you don't know?!"

Her head whirled to Garnet.

"Neither of you know!?"

They didn't respond, the silence telling her all she needed to know. She felt dread growing within her as she looked around the beach. Crap. If they didn't know, then how the hell were they going to beat it?

"How do you guys not know? You know every Gem there is, and I'm pretty sure one that's invisible and can make explosions would be easy to remember!"

"Because there has never been a Gem that matches that description."

The way Garnet responded to her harsh voice made her pause. Her words held their usual monotone, but there was something else within them. It sounded like...fear.

"What?"

"Homeworld has never had any Gems like this. Not during the war, and certainly not before."

She turned her head and saw Pearl, head lifted up and eyes darting across the beach. She could see the fear slithering in her freind's expression.

"The only explanation for this is..."

Pearl trailed off, her eyes getting wider.

"Is if they made new Gems."

Pearl said that in a voice that was as quiet as a whisper, and her fear had become massive. She had no idea what exactly her words meant, but judging by her reaction, the situation they were in was bad.

_**"You call yourselves the protectors of this shithole!?"** _

Despite trying to control herself, she still flinched at those words. Whatever this thing was, its voice was seriously creeping her out. It sounded like worse than glass scratching a chalkboard. And despite trying her best not to, she felt...scared whenever she heard that voice. Because for all she knew, an explosion could soon follow it.

_**"How the hell you have protected this planet for so long is beyond me!"** _

She had never heard another Gems curse so much—she didn't think any Gem would show any knowledge of earth curse words. She saw Garnet and Pearl's head's whipping in every direction to try and find out where that voice came from as she soon did the same. But it was impossible. That thing's voice somehow echoed throughout the beach. It was-.

**_"No wonder that green midget was so easy to kill!"_ **

Her thoughts were turned to ash with those words. Rage was blazing throughout her body the moment as her hands immediately clenched into fists.

"Say that again."

It wasn't her that said those words, surprisingly. Even with her visor, she could feel the glare that Garnet was giving the invisible thing. The anger in her voice wasn't like her own, for instead of being blazing, it was icy and cold.

**_"Oh, I'm sorry, did you not hear me!? Well, allow me to repeat myself! I said that little fuck died like the God damn bitch she was!"_ **

She could see Peri in her mind. Her smiling face. That cute look she got when she won her plushie.

And then she saw her shattered gem.

Her fury was unrelenting. She let out a snarl as her eyes were in a ferocious glare. She had never wanted to hurt one person so badly in her entire life.

"You-!"

"You motherfucker!"

Pearl's furious scream was even greater than hers. She was positive this was the first time she had heard her friend curse in years. Gone was the fear from before as Pearl's eyes were now full of rage.

"Will make you pay! Stop hiding so we can beat you the way Peridot would have if you weren't such a coward!"

Her fury grew with every word she shouted. Never before in any fight had Pearl's voice sound so heated.

There was silence for a few seconds.

And then it was broken by a laugh. A cruel laugh that echoed throughout the beach. A distorted machine like laugh that sounded nothing like a living person. It was a laugh that made her rage become vicious. She wanted to do nothing more than swing her whip around wildly to try and hit this thing, but she couldn't be reckless. Not now.

Eventually, the laughter stopped.

_**"Who said** _ **I** _**killed that midget!?"** _

She blinked. As did Garnet and Pearl.

"What?"

There was more laughter after that word left her lips. This thing was enjoying the confusion in her voice as its laughter grew.

_**"Oh, this is precious! You all think that you finally found the one that killed that bitch! The one that's hurt your town! Well, I hate to disappoint you, but that honor does not belong to me!"** _

She growled and Pearl did the same. This thing kept mocking Peridot's death with every word it spoke, and she wasn't going to take this crap much longer.

_**"No, that honor belongs to my master."** _

"Master?"

Pearl asked that question through clenched teeth.

Another laugh echoed throughout the beach.

_**"Yes! The one who's been able to slip by your pathetic gazes for so long! The one who was easily able to crush that little midget without even breaking a sweat!"** _

She could barely even think. Her anger was getting worse the longer this thing spoke. A glance to her left and she saw Pearl with an expression of pure fury that matched her own. Garnet's visor hid her face from view, but she saw the way her arms trembled. The rage within her body was probably bigger than both her's and Pearl's. She could see her lips slowly twisting into a deep scowl.

_**"He ordered me to kill you three just like that other rock...but I think that can wait. I can do that at any time. For now, I think I'm gonna have some fun."** _

She tried to find where that damn voice was coming from, but she couldn't. She tried to see if there were any new tracks being made on the beach, but all she saw were the ones it had already made.

Wait a minute.

There weren't any tracks in the sand, but...

Her head slowly turned to the waves crashing on the shore. She had seen some tracks there before, but now because of the water, they were gone.

If it went to the water and traveled underneath the waves then-.

_**"Oi, behind you."** _

The voice was no longer loud or echoing. She could hear exactly where it came from.

Her body turned around and she saw it.

Sorta.

About forty feet in front of her there was something dripping with water. Something spherical was standing on the beach. Something far smaller than she had ever expected, maybe about as big as a bowling ball at best. Even with the water dripping down it, its body was still translucent which made it impossible to make out any other features.

She saw that Garnet and Pearl were staring at the thing with equally intense expressions.

_**"If you three want to die faster, then you're more than welcome to try and stop me."** _

Stop it from wha-?

There was another explosion. This one was also silent as flames erupted into the air. She felt the intense wind hit her again as she brought her arms up to try and block them. Though, this time she didn't have to worry about the force from the blast since it was so far away.

But then why had it done so from such a long distance?

It was then she saw another explosion follow that one. This one from even farther distance away from them. And a few seconds later, there was another blast of heat after that one. She could no longer see the thing, only the tracks it made. But she could see that from the tracks and the constant explosion it was unleashing that it was heading...for...

_**"I wonder how this town will look with all those meat bags' blood painting it red!"** _

Her eyes widened. And without even looking behind her, she knew that Pearl and Garnet were doing the same.

**_"GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"_ **

Oh, fuck!

"It's heading for the town!"

Garnet broke away from her and Pearl as she shouted, running as fast as she could after the invisible thing. Pearl quickly followed Garnet as she too ran, her expression now consumed by fear.

And she was right behind the ivory Gem. Legs running as fast as they could to try and stop that thing before it hurt anyone.

* * *

"Get the hell back here you bastard!"

Josuke had no idea if Let Me Live could hear him in its mist form, but he didn't care. Shouting at the top of his lungs was the only thing he could do right now to let out the rage within him. He was running down another street as he watched the mist fly through the sky. All it had done was lead him near the edge of the town; he had seen signs saying he was getting closer to a boardwalk as he chased the sentry. It had yet to attack anyone, even though he had passed some people on his way here who were running and screaming.

And he wouldn't give this fucker the chance to hurt anyone. No matter-.

The mist took a sudden nosedive. The strands suddenly sped down towards the roof of a building that was right across from him. He stopped running as he looked up towards the building.

What was this bastard plan-?

_**"Higashikata...catch!"** _

It didn't take him long to understand the meaning of Let Me Live's words. For he saw something thrown over the building and high into the air.

It was a person. A person who was currently falling right to the concrete at high speeds.

His eyes widened.

"Shit!"

Crazy Diamond appeared right next to him as he shouted. With one hand, the Stand quickly grabbed the back of its master's jacket before slamming its right leg onto the pavement as cracks formed on the concrete.

_**"DORA!"** _

The strength from that stomp was enough to send both him and his Stand flying forward. His body was hit by intense winds as he got closer to the falling person. Just as they were a few feet away from hitting the ground, he reached out and wrapped an arm around their waist. He then pulled them towards his chest as he continued to soar through the air. Eventually, he stopped flying and hit the ground, boots skidding along the concrete as he made sure to hold the person in his arms as tightly as he could to prevent them from slipping out of his grasp.

When he stopped skidding, he had Crazy Diamond take the person out of his arms and gently lay them on the ground. He was now able to get a good look at the person he just saved. She was a girl with brown skin and gold earrings. She wore red and white striped crop top and seafoam green jeans.

She was also currently tied up. Her arms were bound to her sides with a thick black tape. Her legs were tied together and both her mouth and eyes were covered by the same kind of tape. He could see her struggling against her restraints and she let out muffled words from behind the tape.

Without a word he made Crazy Diamond cut through the restraints binding her legs and arms with one swift chop. The tape fell off her body as she began to swing her legs and arms wildly. He had to take a step back to avoid getting hit.

"Hey, Hey, calm down, it's okay."

Crazy Diamond removed the pieces of tape covering her mouth and eyes at the same time with its swift fingers; so fast that the girl didn't even seem to feel the pain from removing the tape.

Calm blue eyes stared right into bloodshot and tear-stained brown.

"It's okay."

None of the anger within him was present in his voice. Instead, his words were calm and, hopefully, soothing.

Within seconds he found himself in a tight hug.

"Tha-Thank you. Tha-Thank you s-so much."

The fear that consumed her every word was so tangible he could almost see it choking her. And the sorrow alongside the fear told him all he needed to know. She had seen that bastard's power first hand; there was no way he wouldn't show off his abilities to this innocent girl. That bastard had most likely been as cruel as possible as he was tying her up-.

Wait...

Why the hell would Kira  _ever_ keep anyone alive?

He didn't dwell on that thought for long, because he remembered he had to go after Let Me Live. He was just about to get up and tell the women to get out of here when his eyes glanced up.

Let Me Live was staring at him. It stood on the same roof it had just thrown this girl off of and did not move an inch. It just stood over the edge and watched him. Its actions puzzled him as he tried to figure out why it continued to just stare at him and not even bother attacking him.

What in the hell was this thing-?

"Wait...you're not... _him_ , right?"

"Him?"

He couldn't risk turning his head away from Let Me Live, so he spoke while still staring at the black Killer Queen.

"He said...he said someone would save me...someone named Josuke."

She pronounced his name a tad off, the "su" was overemphasized, but that wasn't his main focus.

Because what made him blink was the fear she spoke that one word with. The dread that he heard was something he never thought his own name would cause.

In fact...why did she even know his name in the first place?

He glanced at her from the corner of his eye.

"...That's me, yeah."

The confusion in his chest rose as he raised a brow. Why would Kira mention him? Why did he leave this girl alive?

He fully turned around to face her.

And the terror engulfing her face was enormous. She looked at him like he was just as bad as that murderer.

"Oh, no, no, no, no, no."

Her words were so low he had to strain his ears to properly hear them. The fear gripping her voice became stronger as she began to grip the side of her hair with both hands. He had never seen such terror before, and somehow he was partially responsible for it. He looked back to the roof. Let Me Live continued to just stare at him with lifeless pink eyes. The empty expression he had seen so many times before suddenly uneased him.

Something was going on.

"He said...he said that if I meet you...I'd have to do what he wants or else...my family's dead."

He could see tears brimming in her eyes as she gripped the side of her head with both hands.

"I've never met someone so...horrifying. He...he killed some jackass right in front of me. He...he exploded him!"

The tears fell as he continued to stare at her. This girl was a part of Kira's plan, but how exactly she fit into the bastard's scheme he couldn't figure out.

"What did he ask you to do?"

She didn't answer, her gaze now directed to the floor as more tears fell from her eyes.

And then he felt something hot hit his skin. It was familiar heat sensation he had felt so many times before. It was one of that bastards explosions. His head whipped around to Let Me Live. But the bomb hadn't moved an inch.

And he realized that there hadn't been any explosions near him.

He slowly turned his head in the direction he felt the heat coming from. He could see flames rising above a set of buildings. Confusion once again rose within him, this time he could feel it tear away at his every thought as he stared at the flames.

Something was  _very_  wrong. He hadn't really considered it before, but why was Kira  _openly_ attacking him? Before he had expected some sort of silent assault, but not something like this. When Let Me Live had attacked him, it had been hundreds of miles away from Kira's "home." He didn't have to worry about accidentally destroying the place he lived in if he went too far. He didn't need to consider the aftermath of unleashing explosions that, to normal people, would look like they happened from nothing. Yet now, the murderer seemed fine with unleashing as much wanton destruction as his powers could do.

His confusion grew stronger as it enveloped every inch of his body. He was missing something obvious, something that he could almost see if just gave it some thought.

His lips moved into a frustrated frown.

Kira wasn't flashy, he would never do something unless there was a reason for it. But what could be the point to possibly attacking him in broad daylight? It was like he was trying to draw attention to himself.

So what the hell-?

He saw something careening through the air. It came from the street all the way down at the end of this road where he had seen the previous explosion came from. Whatever it was, it crashed hard into a building as debris hit the ground.

He thought he heard a groan. He looked towards the girl still sitting on the street, but she hadn't said anything. He looked around the street, thinking that someone was hurt and needed aid, but he saw no one. His eyes narrowed as he was almost sure he heard someone let out a groan.

And then he heard it again. He heard another groan echo throughout the empty street. But this time, he was able to determine where it came from.

The groan had come from where he had seen that thing crash into the building. He turned his head and stared at the hole that had been made from the impact of whatever crashed into the building.

He saw something fall from the hole and crash onto the ground. It was hard to tell from so far away what exactly it was, and the smog surrounding the street certainly didn't help him see.

He channeled the power within him, and after a moment, his eyes turned into a different shade of blue. Crazy Diamond's pupils became his own as his vision became several times greater. As if he had put on a pair of high powered binoculars, he could instantly see what had crashed into the street.

And he blinked.

He blinked several times, in fact. He brought an arm to wipe his eyes as thoroughly as he could. The smoke on the street must have gotten to his eyes. It was everywhere, so of course it was going to cloud his vision. There was no way he actually...saw...

Once he finished wiping his eyes, he once again looked down the street.

And he saw the same thing he saw before.

A purple woman.

A short, somewhat round, purple woman. A woman with long white hair that stretched all the way to her legs. She was a best somewhat taller than Koichi, maybe by a few inches or more. She had on a white top and black leggings; the edges of said top burnt black and part of her leggings was ripped. The purple woman was also holding a whip with her right hand as she struggled to get up.

And there was a bright purple gem right above her chest.

...What the fuck? What was he looking at? What in the actual hell was he staring at?

At some point, his jaw had fallen off.

What the fuck?

* * *

Okay, that hurt. A lot.

Amethyst slowly got up. Stray pieces of rubble fell off her back as she shakily stood back on her feet. Shit, it looked like whatever that thing was made of, her spin attack did jack against it.

"Amethyst!"

Pearl's worried shout made her look up. She saw the tall Gem running towards her along with Garnet. When they reached the of the street, Pearl crouched down on the curb she had fallen on as she placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

Her eyes then widened.

"Wait, what about that thing!? Why aren't you guys going after it!? It's gonna hurt someone if we don't-!?"

"Because it suddenly stopped exploding after it hit you."

She blinked at Garnet's words.

"What?"

Her leader turned around to look back at the street she had just flown from.

"That...thing said it had received a new order. And that it wouldn't be the one to kill us."

That thing must have been lying. Why the hell would it just-?

"And then it said since its master was right here, it could just sit back and watch us die."

She turned her head towards Pearl, the serious expression she wore made her words all the more severe. She saw her eyes darting left and right, like she was searching for something.

It clicked inside her mind.

"Wait...that thing's boss...is somewhere here?"

The boss of something that could explode a hundred times over. Someone that could order the thing that had been able to run circles around her and the other Gems.

The one that killed Peridot was somewhere around here.

She might have been worried were it not for the anger blazing throughout her body. The hatred within her was screaming at her to find that thing that killed her friend and make it pay. And she was more than willing to listen to her hatred now more than-.

"Amethyst, don't do anything reckless."

Pearl's words brought her out of her thoughts.

"We have to stay and work together if we want to win."

She felt her grip on her shoulder tighten.

"And...we can't let our feelings overwhelm us."

Right. She wasn't the only one who was furious, they all were. She realized that Garnet and Pearl probably felt the same anger as she did. They wanted to make what killed her friend pay as well, but they couldn't let their rage cloud their judgment.

She let out a sigh.

"You're right, my-."

She stopped herself as her eyes saw...something. It was hard to tell with all the smoke filling the roads, but she swore she saw something standing way down the street.

And as the smoke began to dissipate, she saw someone. She had to narrow her eyes, but she saw him. It was a human with...purple hair done in some weird way. He had on a biker jacket, blue jeans, and a purple scarf.

And he was staring at her with wide eyes and an open jaw. What? What why he was staring at her like that? Sure she had flown into a building, but on average she did that almost every two weeks and-.

She blinked as more smoke began to fade from the street. She was now able to see another person in the street. It was one of Steven's friends, Jenny.

And she was currently crying her eyes out. She looked absolutely destroyed. The human had never seen more terrified than right now. It hurt her to look at the human girl as her eyes widened.

"Jenny!"

She ran. She heard Garnet and Pearl shouting at her, but she ignored them. Why that moron next to Jenny was staring at her and not helping the obvious girl in need was beyond her, but since he wouldn't help, she would.

* * *

Okay...

So...

Maybe Greg wasn't crazy.

Josuke's mouth was still agape as he watched, through Crazy Diamonds eyes, as more strange women come into view. One was tall and had skin that was bleached white, peach colored hair, and an outfit that somewhat looked like a burnt ballerina's. The other was women he saw was even taller and had skin that was a shade of red, perhaps maroon, and had on a visor. She had on what looked like a somewhat singed bodysuit of purple and pink colors as well as a cube-shaped afro. But what drew his eyes gaze were the gems  _inside_ their skin. The one with bleach skin had a very large oval shaped white gem lodged right into the center of her forehead. And the woman with the afro had two red gems in both her palms.

_Gems?_

_That's the name of their race._

Ahh, now he saw why. Gems. Because of the rocks.

Aliens were real here.

Holy shit.

Wait, no, now wasn't the time for this! It didn't matter right now if aliens existed here, all that mattered was that bastard. He had to ignore the wave of questions flooding his mind, he could have any distractions. Let Me Live was still staring at him, but at any moment it could move. He had to find that bastard quickly, get this girl out of harm's way, and finally, put an end to all of this.

So pick up your God damn jaw Higashiakta and stop staring at-!

"Jenny!"

The purple one's sudden shout interrupted his thoughts. He watched as she ran down the street towards him. No, wait, not towards him. She running towards the girl right next to him. Jenny, if he heard correctly.

And he saw that as the purple one ran towards her, the fear strangling her grew. She looked at him as the purple woman got closer, maybe halfway to them now.

"Amethyst, wait!"

The peach haired one screamed at her...Comrade, if what Greg said was true about the aliens being a team that protected this town. She saw her and her more muscular friend run after her.

But if they were protectors...

He looked at Jenny, whose eyes were darting from him to the purple one.

...Why did she look so terrified as they ran towards her? Why had she been trembling from the moment she saw them?

The peach haired woman and her friend had almost got up with the purple one. They were at most twenty feet away from him and Jenny.

She glanced at him again, though this time her eyes lingered on him for several seconds. And then she spoke.

"I'm sorry."

Sorry for wha-?

She suddenly got up and took several steps away from him. She suddenly looked at him like he was a monster.

"Guys, this thing is what's been destroying Beach City!"

What?

The three woman stopped dead in their tracks. All of their eyes were at him as he blinked.

"Wait, what?!"

* * *

Almost everything was going according to plan.

Kira could once again hear the faint rumblings of thunder as he walked through the forest, careful not to trip on any loose roots. He checked his watch to see the time, and it was currently 5:34. It had been about half an hour since Jouske arrived, and already he had that fool right where he wanted him.

He closed his eyes, and instead of seeing blackness, he saw red and orange. Of all his new abilities, this was one he found especially useful. He remembered how at first when he saw through Let Me Live's eyes it disoriented him, but now there wasn't even the slightest sense of nausea in his stomach.

He could see the outline of that infuriating teenager as well as three people who distinctly lacked any heat signature. He could also see the girl he had taken, and knew it was only a matter of time before the inevitable happened. His preparations had been completed, and he had ample time to get out of the town before Josuke could even catch a glance at him.

Yes, things were almost perfect. Unfortunately, there was just one little thing that had managed to escape his clever machinations.

He heard Let Me Live's message once again ring in his head.

_He's...at the house._

Of course, soon enough that person would end up in the same place as his "family."

He could see he was approaching the edge of the woods.

In all honesty, he had expected something to go astray from his plans. Bites the Dust had seemed flawless, yet it was beaten by a small child. He had thought that no one could defeat his new ability, but a child had. But now, he had learned. Now, he was stronger than ever before.

And now, he was able to adapt whenever some hiccup appeared on his path.

He had reached the end of the forest as his shoes stepped onto the dirt road that stretched sideways for who knows how many miles.

And he saw him.

His lips moved into a smile he had practiced so many times before.

"Ahh, Steven, what a pleasant surprise."

* * *

"Wait, what!?"

Pearl would have said those exact words if this...person hadn't said them first.

It should have been ridiculous. Homeworld shouldn't have the capabilities to create a Gem that looked like a human. And the mere idea that the Gems there would want to make a new soldier that looked exactly like the humans they viewed as unnecessary and hideous at best was laughable.

But...the last month had been full of so many unexplained things. She had just fought something unlike anything she had ever encountered from the past. And because of that, the idea that Homeworld might have created something that looked as unassuming as a human seemed significantly more plausible in her mind.

And besides, what better way to infiltrate the sworn enemies home then by using a flawless disguise?

"He's the one that's been taking everyone from Beach City!"

The words in Jenny's accusation were consumed by terror as she stood several steps away from the person in front of her.

"What the hell are you talking about?!"

The confusion in his voice matched his shocked expression. His emotions seemed genuine enough, he seemed to act just like a human...but...

She looked to her friends.

Confusion wrapped around Amethyst face as she stared at this man with...unsavory hair, not sure what she should do.

Garnet simply stared at the man barely even twenty feet away from them. She couldn't tell what she was thinking, somehow her emotionless features seemed more unreadable than usual.

"He went crazy and tried to kill the people here!"

Jenny pointed at the destruction around them. The severely damaged buildings, the flames that rose from several portions of the street. All of it had been caused by something, certainly not from whatever they had been fighting. And...that thing had said its master was here. And so far, she hadn't seen anyone other than Jenny and this man, who now that she thought about it, she had never seen once before in her town.

"He tried to kill me!"

The terror and anguish within Jenny's voice made her eyes narrow. There was no way Steven's human friend was faking these emotions, and she would have absolutely no reason to lie about this person being responsible for this mayhem. He may have looked nothing like a Gem, from his appearance to his gender, but with a witness who she knew telling her otherwise...

The man's eyes once again widened as he looked at her.

"Hey, wait a minute, that's not true! I-!"

He took a step forward.

And then Garnet shouted.

"Don't move!"

* * *

"How can I help you, Steven?"

Kira slowly walked forward. The boy sitting on his steps looked even worse than the last time he saw him. The rings under his eyes seemed to have gotten deeper. His expression was exhausted, though more in the emotional sense than physical. His pink shirt with a yellow star was wrinkled and his jeans had dirt on them; had he perhaps walked around his house a few times as he waited for him? Was he really that anxious?

He gazed right into Universe's pupils. Even from here he could see the nervousness within them was only rising with each moment. But there was also something else within the flood of nerves and worry.

Fear. A cold fear that he could see just lying underneath his expression. A ruthless dread that seemed to radiate from within his body. It was almost tangible and he could see it strangle the boy's entire chubby face despite his pathetic efforts to hide it.

Oh?

Now, this was interesting.

He put one hand in his jacket's pocket. He made the cheer in his smile increase as he continued to get closer.

"Did you perhaps want to have another talk?"

* * *

Shit.

This was this bastards plan all along.

Shit, shit, shit.

He had never once intended to fight him, no, he had come up with something far better.

Shit!

Josuke's mouth was in a deep frown as he resisted the overwhelming urge to clench his hands into fists.

The reason why he had been so flashy with Let Me Live? The reason why that bastard had left this girl alive? It was for this moment. To force him to face off against these...aliens. This bastard wanted to deal with him in a way that required as little effort as possible. He thought back to what Greg had told them about the aliens living here; the man had said that they were guardians of this city, and Kira would want to get rid of any potential threat to his life as soon as he could. The murderer thought that these aliens would either take him out or he them or perhaps they either exhaust each other to the point where he could easily beat them.

Or, in that bastard's dream scenario, they'd all end up killing each other

He had to fix this. The three women in front of him were now looking at him like he was a threat. He saw the way their bodies tensed as their stances slowly shifted.

He let out a long breath. He had to make his words sound as calm as he could. Any mistakes could be seen as hostile.

"Look...I did not do this. The person who is really responsible for this is-."

"Do-Don't listen to him!"

Damn it!

He glanced at Jenny. The girl who was forced to play a part in that bastard's scheme. Terrified out of her mind after seeing that monster and the threat of him killing her family, she was more than willing to follow that bastard's plan. Kira had turned this girl into his own personal tool. He could see just how much that murderer had traumatized this girl, and with his words alone he was able to control her with ease.

He became furious with just that one thought, and before he could help he let out a small growl.

"I said don't move!"

The anger in the red alien's scream was more heated than before. She thought he was growling at Jenny. God damn it, at this rate...

Be calm. Don't let your wrath get the better of you. You can't mess up here.

"He kept bragging about how his mission from Homeworld was going beyond well!"

The moment Jenny said "Homeworld," The three alien women all tensed again, deep frowns now on their faces as their gazes grew more intense by the second.

If nothing was done quickly...

"I-!"

"He kept saying how the Diamonds made a wise choice in sending him here!"

"That is-!"

"He kept saying how he was going to kill me just like Peri-!"

"I AM A HUMAN!"

* * *

"N-No...that's not why I'm here, Mister Araki."

His voice was so meek Kira barely heard him speak. It was like like a tiny mouse that was slowly dying. His words were shaky to the point that the boy was barely even able to form a coherent sentence. And the fear within them became clearer with each syllable. He could even see it slithering within the boy's eyes as he glanced at the steps.

Could it be?

His smile grew.

"Oh? Then, what seems to be the problem, Steven?"

He was now walking on the decaying grass that made up his lawn. The only other sound beside the crackling of the grass was the slow rumble of thunder.

Universe muttered something. He couldn't make out exactly what he said except for one word.

Peridot.

"I'm sorry, could you repeat that. I didn't quite hear you."

The joy in his smile once again rose as he got closer.

* * *

"I am not an alien! I am a God damn human being and she-."

He pointed a finger at Jenny.

"Is being manipulated by the actual person who did this!"

"Then how come we haven't seen anyone like you before once here?"

The purple one spoke. The sharpness of her slight glare told him how close she was to believing Jenny's words.

"I literally just got to this town like forty minutes ago!"

"Convenient."

The red one took a step as she spoke. The edge in that one word was hard as steel; for a moment she almost sounded like Jotaro.

"He's lying!"

"No, I am not!"

* * *

"It's just...it's about Peridot."

"Oh? What about her?"

"I just...how did..."

He trailed off as Kira watched the boy's hands clench his jeans.

His smile was still wide and full of jubilance.

"How did I what?"

Universe didn't respond as he once again gazed to the steps. Then, after a moment, he spoke.

"...How did you know she had a visor?"

He blinked as he tilted his head to one side.

"...I'm not sure what you're referring to."

He was being honest as he raised an eyebrow. He had no idea what this id-.

"When we first talked the day after Peridot died, you said her visor was like Garnet's. You said you had never seen her before, yet...you knew she had a visor. And...you said you weren't there the night Peridot died...but I saw a picture of you at Funland a couple of minutes before Peridot exploded."

Universe paused.

He stopped walking once he was about ten feet away from the steps. His smile was gone and a frown took its place.

* * *

"Jenny...please, tell the truth. I swear that you'll family will be safe if you just tell them what's really happening."

"I..."

She was considering it, thank God. She was actually listening to him as her expression became conflicted.

"I-."

"Hey, what the hell do you mean her family will be safe!?"

The purple one was shouting at him as her eyes blazed with anger. He quickly realized how what he said could be easily misinterpreted.

"What I mean is that the one who is responsible for this threatened her family in order to get her to cooperate, and that's the whole reason she's lying to you!"

For one moment, he saw all of their eyes soften, if only slightly. For one second they were not as tense as before as their distrust and hostility faded from their expressions. But after another moment, their expressions hardened again.

"Jenny...Is this man really responsible for this?"

The peach haired one looked away from him for a moment and stared at the still crying girl. He saw her eyes dart from him and then back to the alien women. Just say no. Just say no and he'll help. Say no and he won't have to play into that bastard's hands.

But then he saw her eyes widen for a second. The fear within them became so much more powerful as it looked like she remembered something. Something that terrified her right to her soul. Something that made horror swallow every part of her face.

He instantly knew what. Kira. She was remembering that blonde bastard. She was remembering the malevolence that emitted from his expression, the horrible dread he was able to cause with one glance of his cold eyes. Koichi had described in great detail how terrifying Kira was when he first encountered him, and he could suddenly hear his small friend's words.

_If a normal person was to encounter someone that evil...I don't think they'd be able to do anything...They would just sit there as his contempt ripped their resolve to shreds...and then..._

"No, he did this! It was him!"

_That piece of shit could do anything he wants to them after that._

Even mold them to his own personal weapon.

* * *

"And...how did you know...Peridot didn't have a weapon? She...she's never even shown the people here her powers...but somehow you knew."

Ah.

Kira had gotten careless. Again. He had let information slip from his own mouth. It wasn't anything truly revealing but...it was still bothersome. After all, before, when he had gotten Bites the Dust, all it took was him saying his name out loud, and then...

He could see Hayato.

That tunnel.

And the look in Josuke's eyes right before his Crazy Diamond-.

No.

That didn't matter. Not now. He was stronger than ever. Even if he made mistakes, it wouldn't matter. Because now, he was in control of the situation. He had planned for so long, he had Josuke right where he wanted him and the only thing left to do was tie up any loose ends.

And then his peaceful life would be secured.

He gazed right into Universe's eyes, and he could see the fear consuming them. He could see it growing with every second as it twisted every part of his body.

His lips moved back into the abundantly kind smile from before.

"Oh, is that all?"

He took a few steps forward.

"Well, there's a perfectly reasonable explanation for that."

* * *

"Jenny, please, tell the truth!"

"Hey man, back off!"

The purple woman took a few steps forward, as did her teammates. Now they were about fifteen feet away from him.

"I am not your enemy!"

"Well, then where are they?"

The one with the long nose spoke this time, and he didn't have an answer to that question

"I...I don't know where, but-."

"Once again, convenient."

The edge in the afro-haired one's voice was even sharper than before, and behind that visor, he could feel the glare she was giving him.

"I-!"

"If you're a human, then why don't you tell us who the president of this country is!?"

The purple one shouted at him, and he felt himself gnash his teeth at that question.

"Do you even know the answer to that!?"

"Don't change the subject! You honestly expect us to believe you when we have someone right here telling us that you're responsible for this mess!?"

He saw her fist clench on the whip in her right hand as anger burned within her eyes.

"That you're the one who killed our friend!?"

* * *

"Re-Really?"

Universe lifted his head and stared at him. And in his eyes, Kira could see relief. Relief that whatever he was thinking was as far from the truth as possible.

His smile grew as he was now at the bottom of the steps to his house.

"Really."

* * *

"Please, listen to me! The longer you fight with me the more you'll be playing right into that bastards schemes!"

"The only bastard I see here is you!"

Josuke saw the two alien women next to the purple one shouting at him move forward. And he could see the beginnings of a glow radiating from the gems in their skin.

* * *

Kira ascended up one stair as he kept his smile perfectly cheerful. The smile he had given Universe so many times before. When he was crying, when he remembered something awful, when he talked about his pathetic guardians, he wore this exact smile. It was a smile that made Universe feel comfortable.

"It's quite an easy thing to explain, Steven."

* * *

"Do I even look like an alien!"

Josuke tried to think of anything he could say to convince these women that he was what he claimed to be.

"No, you don't. But I believe my friends, especially one that's crying, over a stranger any day."

The afro-haired woman's hands were swallowed by a pink light. The light was in the shape of an oval, and after a few moment, the light faded. Now covering her hands were a pair of gauntlets.

* * *

"In all honesty...you'll probably find it quite...funny."

Kira ascended up two more steps. Universe continued to gaze right at him as the little boy's fear slowly faded from his eyes.

"I..I will?"

His smile now stretched to the ends of his face. It emitted a warmth that he knew a truly kind smile would possess as he let out a small chuckle.

"Oh, beyond a shadow of a doubt, it's hilarious."

* * *

He watched as the bleached white skin one's forehead become engulfed in a light. She reached a hand towards the light, and from within the sphere, she pulled out a long spear.

Damn it, no! This was exactly what that bastard wanted!

"Guys-!"

Jenny was about to speak again, but he wouldn't let her. He couldn't let her words make things worse than they already were.

* * *

"The reason why I knew about Peridot's visor...her powers...and even why I was there that night is quite simple."

He reached the top of the steps now, Universe sitting only a few feet away from him.

And once he was at the very top of the stairs...he took his mask off.

* * *

"Would you shut the hell up already!"

When Josuke shouted at Jenny, he heard something behind him.

The sound of wheels clanking together as they slowly moved forward.

_**"As you command, master."** _

He felt a rush of wind blow past his skin the moment he heard those distorted words. And he could see a familiar spherical design flying past his eyes in just a few seconds as it hit its target.

* * *

The smile that had once radiated warmth was gone. The features that belonged to a kind and caring man had disappeared. The expression that was once full of joy was no more the moment he took his mask off.

Because that mask kept the world from seeing him. It kept everyone from seeing the monster that laid beneath.

Gone was his smile so full of joy and care, in its place was something far more sadistic. Eyes that held nothing but warmth now drowned with something cold and dark. Features that were once kind were now dripping with a cruelty none could match.

The malevolence that Kira suddenly released from within him was something he did so many times before. Especially when he was about to make someone his girlfriend.

"It's because I killed her."

* * *

He couldn't react in time, the bomb was already out of his range by now.

All Josuke could do was watch. As Sheer Heart Attack flew through the air. As the alien women turned their heads in the direction they heard that voice coming from.

As that tiny metallic bastard hit Jenny right in the center of her face. The wheels that made up its treads left deep imprints of her skin the moment it made contact. A squelching sound echoed throughout the street as blood popped from Jenny's face.

The alien women all immediately turned back to see what had happened. And when they did, the shock that overwhelmed their faces was something he could feel pierce his very soul.

And then, Sheer Heart Attack exploded.

* * *

The change was so sudden, yet Kira took in every detail.

From the widening of Universe's eyes.

The pure terror he could see consuming every inch of the boy's body.

The way the idiot felt his malevolence in the air as he began to tremble.

And as fear dragged him down into a cold and unfeeling abyss, the little brat could do nothing but drop his jaw and stare at the monster in front of him.

It all happened in less than a second, but he savored every change that Universe experienced. His cruel smile grew and became even more distorted.

Killer Queen's right leg overlaid his with his own.

And then he kicked the shitty brat right in his face.

* * *

The explosion was smaller than usual, but it was still large enough to completely engulf Jenny's body in flames. The force was also less powerful than normal, but he could still feel powerful winds brush against his skin.

And once the flames had died down, Jenny was no longer standing on the road. The only things on the spot that Jenny once stood were Sheer Heart Attack...and ash.

He had just failed to save another person. He wasn't even eight feet away, and yet he still failed. That bastard had taken another life right in front of him. Another innocent person had been killed in one the most horrific ways possible and he couldn't do anything.

Just like with Shigechi. And Aya. And who know how many others.

_**"Master, I truly hope I've lived up to your expectations."** _

Sheer Heart Attack was looking right at him with its empty sockets for eyes. And even with that gravelly voice, even with its emotionless skull, the sarcasm within its words could not have been any more mocking.

_**"I'll leave these cunts to you."** _

And then, a purple aura surrounded Sheer Heart Attack before it was lifted off the ground and began to fly through the air. Its mission was complete, so now it could return to its master.

He turned around to the alien women.

The peach haired one was on her knees, tears spilling from her eyes as she looked at the spot where a person once stood.

The purple one's mouth was agape.

And the one with the visor chucked a large piece of cement at him as she roared.

His eyes widened as the piece of concrete that was at least half as big as him hurling towards him. He channeled the energy within him to his right arm, and Crazy Diamond pink and muscular arm became his as he threw a punch forward. His now silver gauntlet coated fist smashed the piece of concrete to smithereens as dust was released into the air.

And almost immediately after he destroyed the rock, a whip shot through the dust and spiraled towards his arm. He could feel the harsh leather wrap around his jacket covered limb as it bit into his arm. It pulled him forward as he stumbled through the dust. He quickly regained his balance and planted his feet as firmly in the ground, his arm still forcibly extended because of the whip as he tried to pull it back. He shook his head to rid his vision of the lingering powder in his eyes.

And he saw the furious look the purple one was giving him from ten feet away as she pulled even harder on the whip. The absolutely livid expression the maroon skinned one had on as her gauntlets were clenched into fists. The bleach white one getting up as she wiped the tears away, her face now burning with a white-hot anger.

"I-."

"Shut the fuck up!"

The purple one's furious scream told him that she wouldn't listen. That there was no escaping the oncoming fight. He looked at the expressions her teammates had, and they said the same thing.

Damn it!

He bit gnashed his teeth together. That bastard-.

No.

He couldn't think about him anymore. Because right now, he had a new set of enemies to deal with. And with these enemies, he couldn't go all out. Right now they were just pawns in Kira's plans. They thought he was the enemy that just mercilessly killed their friend. He would try and hold back as much as he could and try to quickly defeat them. And afterward, he would heal their injuries.

His eyes narrowed as he thought up of as many plans as he could. He needed to-.

"I'm going to cut off that shitty hair and make you eat it like a sandwich!"

The purple one let out another enraged roar.

And he stopped thinking. The noise around him began to dull as he took a moment to process those words. They repeated over and over inside his mind, and they got louder with every repetition.

Within seconds he was suddenly consumed by an inferno.

What the was that?

He could feel a vein bulge near his forehead.

"If Homeworld thinks that someone with such awful and frankly ridiculous hair is going to beat us, then they have another thing coming!"

The inferno became greater with the words that bird-like one shouted.

Calm dow-they didn't-getting angry won't-just calm down and-!

"For killing a human right in front of us, we're going to make sure you regret ever coming to this planet!"

The maroon skinned one took a step forward as the fury in her words was somehow became both cold and hot. And while her voice was scathing, at least she didn't-.

"And you're face is gonna end up as ugly as your hair!"

The purple one shouted again.

And another vein bulged right near his forehead.

...

...

...Heh.

Heh, heh, heh, heh. Heh, heh, heh. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!

Oh, he was going to beat the ever-loving crap out of every single one of these fuckers.

Animosity spread throughout his body.

He was going to beat them to the God damn ground.

The flames within him were familiar, he had felt them so many times before.

Then he was going to heal them.

The unadulterated hatred burning within every thought was something he could never control. No matter how many times it happened, he would always be overwhelmed by the urge to hurt the idiots that unleashed this storm within him.

And repeat the process.

A purple aura surrounded him.

"Crazy Diamond."

He muttered those words in a voice that was far calmer than it had any right to be. And when he said those words, he saw the bleach-white one's eyes widen, anger fading slightly as shock returned to her expression.

"Wait, what did you-!?"

She didn't finish.

Because when she was about halfway through her words, he called Crazy Diamond right next to him. The Stand reached forward and grabbed the whip that was still pulling on his arm. Then the pink-skinned warrior gave a tug far greater than the purple alien could match.

And the moment his Stand pulled on the whip, the purple one was lifted off her feet and sent flying through the air towards him.

"What the-!?"

She only had time to get those two words out before she got into his range, Crazy Diamond moved in front of him just as she was inches away from his face. The fury in its expression had never been more powerful, within its blue eyes there was an anger that could fill entire oceans.

And then it pulled both its arms back and attacked.

_**"DORARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARA!"** _

His Stand's arms moved at speeds that made its arms blur, silver and pink mixing together as they hit the purple alien women over and over. Gauntlet covered fists struck the purple women on every inch of her body, crosses and haymakers striking so hard they left visible dents on her body in the shape of fists. The barrage of his Stands fists was so fast Crazy Diamond seemed to be hitting the purple woman with a thousand arms. Each fist that smashed into the alien's body made a sound similar to cannons being shot echo through the alley and the only other sound to trump that was his own Stand's furious war cry.

And he watched as the alien women's expression shifted with each punch.

First confusion.

Then wide eye shock.

And then unholy agony.

_**"DORA!"** _

The wrath in his Stand's voice was had become absolutely scorching. It pulled its arm parallel to its gut as it unleashed an uppercut so fast he didn't even see it make contact with the purple alien. But he did see her careen through the air and hear another cannon like sound echo through the street. He watched with narrowed eyes as the alien women back flipped several times through the air until she hit a building. Her body slammed through the concrete that made up the wall with ease, a large hole now in the center of the building as rubble fell to the ground.

She didn't even have the time to scream.

He saw a soft glow coming from within the hole.

And he also saw her teammates staring at the hole, and while he couldn't see their faces because their backs were to him, he knew their entire faces were now drowning with shock.

"...What!?"

The ivory one was the one who shouted.

"How-!"

"Hey, you three bitches..."

He interrupted her, and the moment he did, both of them turned around.

And they flinched. It was small, but he still saw it. And he couldn't blame them.

His wrath was had been unleashed and blazed throughout the air. The flames in his eyes only highlighted his anger as his lips were in the deepest scowl known to man. His hatred was so burning that they could feel it as they took a step back.

He pointed a finger at his hair.

And then he roared.

_**"WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU JUST SAY ABOUT MY HAIR!?"** _

* * *

The chubby idiot was sent flying. His body careened through the air as he couldn't even scream, he had heard all his breath leave the boy's body the moment his kick landed. Universe body crashed into the wall of his house as he traveled along the wooden planks. Kira watched as his body made the wooden planks fly into the air until eventually there was no more wall to tumble on. The boy's body spiraled before crashing through the decayed rails on his porch and onto the grass below.

He slowly walked along the porch, the creak of the wooden planks the only sound he could hear.

It had been worth it.

Dealing with that idiot's ramblings. Not smacking his hand against his forehead every time he didn't realize how pathetic his guardians were. Allowing his tidy clothes be sullied this brat's snot and mucus. Holding back the urge to snap the boy's neck in an attempt to make him see the obvious.

Acting like a kind man had been worth it for that one moment. For that instance when Universe realized just what he had been talking to. The demons in his mind were almost cheering the moment his leg made contact with the boy. He had never felt elation quite like this.

He was at the edge of his porch as he looked down.

Universe had a bit of blood dripping down his forehead, but not nearly as much as he hoped; he supposed his Gem biology was to thank for that. There was a bruise on his face, large and already turning purple, but he expected more.

But what he really focused on was the terror within his face. He could see it growing with every tremble of his body. The dread within him was paralyzing the fool to the spot. Each shaky breath Universe released was because the malevolence he was still channeling to the air. And as his cruelty rose and became colder, it amplified the horror devouring Universe as the boy's trembling grew worse by the second.

And in that moment, he was reminded of something. A color, of all things.

The color green.

The smile on his face became bigger. And he knew that meant it became all the more terrifying to this chubby idiot.

"Oh, that expression."

He let out a chilling laugh as spoke.

"That expression is the same one she wore when I cornered her."

He tilted his head to the right, ruthless purple eyes easily crushing any feelings left in Universe other than immense dread.

"Tell me, did she have a similar expression when she exploded?"

He loved that he could see Universe's fear choke him with even greater strength than before. He loved how the idiotic boy could no longer say anything as he stared at him with eyes full of terror.

He enjoyed every moment of this. Soon, he would end this boy but until then-.

There was the sound of running footsteps coming from behind him.

And then a roar.

He whipped his around and saw a pink animal leaping at him, its jaws wide open as he could see its teeth. He reacted in time as he hit the floor and rolled away just at the animal snapped its mouth closed. His body collided with more wooden railing as he saw the pink beast land where Universe was sitting.

He quickly got up and saw the beast lift Universe up by the back of his shirt before sprinting away. Once the animal had decided it was far enough away from him, it placed Universe onto its back and into the expecting hands of the brown haired girl.

Lion, such an asinine name, was glaring at him. On his back, he could see Maheswaran fretting over the boy. But Universe ignored the worry in her face and whatever words she was sprouting as he stared at him.

He slowly hopped over his porch as he landed on the grass below.

When he had asked Let Me Live if it knew where Universe was after it reported he wasn't with the Crystal Gems, the bomb had done just that. It told him that Universe was at his house, and after receiving that message he had went back towards his home.

However, because of the distance, Let Me Live could only identify heat signatures that it knew was here. So it couldn't tell if Maheswaran or the pink animal was his house, at best they would look no different than other birds or animals through its vision.

He sighed as he slowly walked towards the ragtag group of children and one animal. The moment he took a step forward, the animal began to once again roar at him. Maheswaran now turned to look at him, and he could see so many emotions within her eyes. Anger, confusion, shock and so many other feeling ran rampant on her expression, she truly had no idea what exactly she was looking at.

Well, she was about to find out. She and-.

"You...You lied to me."

Universe words were barely above a mutter, but he still heard them even with the distance between them.

The rumble of thunder echoed throughout the area.

And Universe's eyes were now brimming with tears. The fear mangling his expression now melded with a cold sorrow that he had seen on his face so many times before during their talks. A sadness that was only rivaled by the agony now present throughout the boy's entire body.

Universe had just realized that the only one who seemed to tell the truth was just another liar. Then the person he had confided in was, in fact, the murderer of his close friend. And he realized just how many mistakes he had made, and the regret he felt because of them crashed into him like a tide. He had fully believed "Mr. Araki" was his friend. And now because of that belief, the pain became within him so much worse.

Right now, he had just lost the only person he thought he could rely on.

He shrugged.

"Now, to be fair..."

His features were no longer full of sadistic cruelty. There was no elation over the despair in Universe's face. There was no emotion whatsoever in his expression as he gazed right into the boy's brown pupils.

"It's not like I'm the first to do that."

The void in his voice could not have been colder. He could not have done anything else to show Universe just how unfeeling his "friend" really was.

He could not think of a better way to tell Universe that he did not give even the most remote shits about him.

He saw lightning strike somewhere in the distance. White light flooded the area for just a brief second.

The moment Universe heard those words, the tears in his eyes fell and mixed with the blood on his face. The sorrow became all the more powerful as it drowned his expression. The pink beast was now roaring at him with an intensity he had never heard from the animal before. Maheswaran head swiveled from Universe to him, having no idea what she should do. It looked like she was about to scream something at him, no doubt some pathetic insult a grade schooler like her could barely manage, but she didn't get a chance.

Because the furious scream that came from Universe's mouth interrupted her.

"You bastard!"

Sorrow was still flooding his expression, but now an unrestrained fury was also there. His anger blazed throughout his eyes as tears still fell down. Hatred that seemed to grow more scorching by the second burned within his face. The glare he gave him held nothing but foul venom—Maheswaran actually looked scared of the look he was giving him as she moved away from him slightly.

And once again, he shrugged.

"Even you can do better than stating the obvious, Universe."

The anger tripled as the sorrow in his face began to turn to nothing. A wrath he had only seen from the boy a few times before now radiated from the bottom of his soul.

"I'm going to beat you... I'm going to beat you until you cry!"

He scoffed. Now that, he would like to see.

It was then he once again heard the faint rumblings of thunder, but this time it was accompanied by something wet. He looked up and saw it had begun to rain, and he frowned. Getting blood out of his suit he was prepared for, but he had hoped to finish this before it started to rain.

Oh, well.

He saw Universe extend a hand to his right towards Maheswaran. The girl looked at a hand for a moment, then her eyes slowly moved towards Universe's crying face. She was hesitant, eyes flickering back and forth until they settled on him. The person who had caused such agony to her boyfriend.

And then her eyes moved into a glare. And she gripped his hand.

A bright light swallowed the two, and out came the person he had seen on his very first day here. A green top covering Universe's red shirt as a pink gemstone was exposed, curly black hair that reached all the way down to blue shorts.

The fusion of Universe and Maheswaran stood tall as...she?...He? Well, he supposed gender didn't really matter to a weapon.

The expression the fusion wore screamed just how badly it wanted to hurt him. It then reached into the pink animal's mane, a pink portal appearing just underneath the weapon's hands as it pulled out a long pink sword. And then from its gemstone, it pulled out Universe's pink shield.

The weapon known as Stevonnie gave him a vicious glare full of contempt. The animal it stood on gave out another mighty roar.

"I am going to beat you to the ground, Araki!"

If he had to guess, that scream was supposed to be threatening.

How cute.

He looked right at the weapon. Purple eyes that held nothing but cruelty glared at its brown.

And he saw it glance away, afraid.

As it should have been.

"My name is Kira Yoshikage..."

Everything about his features had changed. No longer was he an ordinary businessman, or a kind gentleman that helped those in need or even a sadistic creature that loved causing misery in others.

Right now, he was nothing but an unfeeling killer as a purple aura surrounded him.

"And it's about time I taught you shitty brats a lesson in manners."

_To Be Continued~_


	14. Shinigami

Stevonnie glared at him.

The rain around them was falling faster by the second, drenching their hair and clothes in cold water and almost making them shiver. Lion's fur was soaked, and they could feel just how wet their pink friend was through their bare feet; and when they glanced at his face, they could tell that Lion was holding back his own shivers.

But Lion didn't care about the coldness gripping him. And neither did they. Because both their and Lion's focus were all on this... _monster_.

Ara...Kira was still standing in the exact same spot in front of his house.

Liar.

He had yet to make a single move. He just stood there in the rain and watched.

Murderer.

His purple eyes glared right at them. Purple eyes that looked nothing like what Steven or Connie had seen before. His eyes had more malice in them than anything they had seen from past enemies. Even Yellow Diamond's haughty gaze could not compare to the hatred they saw in his piercing eyes.

Bastard!

Their left eye twitched as they snarled. Their grip on their sword grew tighter with every second. They wanted to charge in, to get as close as possible before pummeling him as hard as they could. To swing their sword right in his face before watching him poof back into his gemstone.

But they didn't.

Because even though they wanted to beat this monster senseless—and they so,  _so_ wanted to—they knew just how dangerous the situation they were in was. They had no idea how his powers worked. Kira hadn't even taken out his weapon—if he even had one in the first place. And if he did have a weapon, was he plotting to use it when they least expected it? Or did he think he didn't need to use his weapon to beat them?

They knew nothing of what Kira was capable of. It would be reckless to attack him now when they had no idea what he could do. All they knew was that he could somehow make explosions and that he...killed Peridot.

He would pay for that. They would make sure of that no matter what.

They needed some sort of plan, but they couldn't think of anything. They were too enraged to properly think of any strategy. And since they didn't know the exact details of his abilities, they couldn't come up with any proper countermeasures even if they tried.

Just like so many times before. Just when they needed information—basic, easy information they should already have—they didn't have any. Because they had never been told anything. Because the Gems never told-!

Stop it!

They shook their head as their left eye once again twitched, drops of water flying off their hair as they did so. They couldn't afford to think like that, not now. Even with one part of themselves furiously agreeing with those thoughts, they knew just how bad it would get if they let their rage overwhelm them. They had to calm down, or else...

They looked back at Kira.

...Or else  _something bad_ will happen.

They didn't know what kind of Gem Kira was, but that didn't matter. What did matter was the dark gleam in his eyes that trumped any snarl or insult Jasper had given them. They had been in plenty of fights, fought who knows how many Corrupted Gems and a part of them had bubbled a giant creature that could have destroyed the planet without even meaning to.

But this was different.

The icy hatred that Kira seemed to be emitting was something no enemy they had encountered could ever hope to match. The frown on his face—a face that looked so  _human_  but  _not_  at the same time—made them hesitate. The way he had yet to even get into any sort of fighting stance and instead stand in an almost nonchalant manner told them something was  _wrong._

And the indifferent look he kept giving them, the look that only made his purple eyes so much crueler, made them realize that this man was not like anyone they had ever faced before. He wasn't a vengeful soldier. He wasn't a cruel emperor of another planet. He wasn't even a man whose mind had been shattered, thus forcing him to act like a mindless animal.

He wasn't anything like that. He was just a monster that had killed one of their family. Someone who was more than willing to do the same to them and the rest of-.

"Well?"

It took everything they had not to charge forward the moment they heard him spoke. Kira's voice was just as empty as the rest of his features as he took a single step forward.

"Didn't you say you were going to beat me to the ground?"

They saw him raise an eyebrow. And they bit their lip as their grip on their sword got tighter.

"If so, why are you just standing there?"

Deep breaths. Don't give in to your urges. He's trying to play you. Garnet warned you about-.

Their left eye once again twitched as their anger rose.

Stop it! They couldn't...they had to be calm. It would be stupid-.

"Are you so scared that you can't even move?"

...What was that?

"At the very least you're smart enough to recognize when you're outclassed."

He took another step forward, and they heard his shoe crush the wet grass beneath it.

Lion let out a powerful roar. And remaining calm became so much more difficult. But...they wouldn't fall for his taunts. They wouldn't fall for whatever trap he was trying to lure them to. They had to ignore their anger, otherwise, they would do something-.

"I suppose that's something you and that green midget share in common."

All of their thoughts came to a stop.

Thunder once again boomed throughout the area.

"What?"

They said that one word through gritted teeth.

Kira looked at the grey sky above.

"You and that little girl knew when you were facing someone you could never hope to defeat. When I cornered her, she instantly realized that she had no hope of escaping me."

He said that like he was talking about something trivial. Like Peridot—their friend, their  _family—_ didn't even matter in the slightest. Like she had just been a spec of dirt.

Their knuckles were white.

...Bastard.

"Yes, she was shaking so much that she couldn't even stand. I thought it was quite cute how she tried her very best to escape me, using every trick she knew and even succeeding for a moment. But just that. A moment."

...Cute?

He thought it was... _cute_  that she had been fighting for her life? That her being scared out of her mind, trying her best not to die and running for her life was something he enjoyed watching?

They were trembling now.

Bastard.

"You should listen to the fear inside you and just give up. It would save me the trouble of having to fight."

They could never be scared of this man. How could they when all they could feel was anger?

They were practically crushing their teeth together now.

Bastard!

"So why don't you just let me kill you so you can join that pathetic weakling in the afterlife, Uni-."

They weren't going to let him speak another word.

"Bastard!"

With a roar, they ran forward before leaping off Lion with all their strength. They soared through the air before landing on the wet ground about halfway across from Kira. They then sprinted as fast as their legs would allow, sword pulled behind them as their eyes moved into a vicious glare.

He would pay! He wouldn't get away! For killing their friend and for betraying them, he would pay here and now!

Once they were close enough, they swung their sword. A hissing arc of pink headed right for Kira. He still had yet to move as the sword got closer. He still had yet to even blink—eyes still perfectly hollow—as he stared right at their face.

They didn't care why he wasn't moving. At this range, there was no way he could dodge. Their strike was too fast—they had put every ounce of their strength into it—and was already so close.

There was no way this bastard-!

Lightning hit the forest—where exactly, they couldn't tell—and a blinding white light assaulted their vision. For one second—that was all, a second—they could see nothing but white.

Until they saw _something_  within the light.

It all happened in an instant, but they still saw. Within the white that was everywhere in their sight, there was a stain. A deep, black stain that was just visible in the corner of their eyes. And then it grew. The stain seemed to get darker—reaching a point where it became darker than the void that was space. It began to rise and twist. Stretching and growing until it began to take shape into what looked like…

A face.

The white light faded.

And suddenly, Kira was gone and they were staring right into a face made of nothing but darkness and cold pink eyes.

Then they felt pain erupt in their face.

"GAAAH!"

Something hit them. Something stopped their attack when it was only inches away from hitting. Something struck them so hard that they saw stars—completely different from the real ones in space—appear in their vision. Something moved so fast that they didn't even see the blow.

Something slammed into the center of their nose with enough force to shatter bone. Blood burst from within it as they were sent flying. Their body spun in the air—but they made sure to hold onto their sword for dear life—as their head roared with pain.

They would have crashed back onto the dirt, but they landed on something soft instead. When they opened their eyes, they saw that Lion had caught them on his back. Lion skidded from the sudden impact—claws leaving a deep trail in the wet ground—and their friend let out a painful growl.

Once Lion stopped skidding, they fell off the pink animal onto the ground, a soft plopping sound reaching their ears when they made contact. One hand reached up towards their nose as they carefully touched it. They winced the moment they did, letting out a grunt as fresh pain roared within their nostrils.

They slowly brought their hands up to their eyes and looked at the blood dripping down their fingers. They then glanced at the trails of red descending from their now broken nose.

They were bleeding. This was the first time they had ever been hurt like this. This was the first time they had ever been hurt  _at all._

They looked back at Kira.

And he was watching them with a raised brow.

"Oh?"

The murderer took a step forward. Lion let out another snarl and leapt in front of them.

"So, you can bleed?"

There was something in his eyes. Something that they recognized, yet at the same time didn't. There was something within those purple pupils that kept growing.

"Excellent."

He smiled. A smile that was even worse than the one he had given Steven. A smile that was made of nothing but malice and cruelty. A smile that made his cold expression look…

Scary.

"That might just make this little annoyance somewhat less boring."

And it was then they realized what exactly had been rising in Kira's eyes.

Curiosity.

It was so much more horrible than any curiosity they had seen before—darker than they had ever thought possible—but there was no denying that what they saw was indeed that emotion.

He was curious as to what ways he could hurt them. Curious to see what would happen to the fusion—one that was made of both human and Gem—if he were to  _break_ them,

They saw all of that in those cruel purple eyes of his.

He took another step forward.

And despite the fact that it was so cold, despite how rain kept pelting their skin and soaking every inch of their body, despite the fury within them...

They still felt cold sweat descending down their face as Kira looked right into their eyes.

"Why don't we hurry this up now?"

And then…something surrounded him. It looked like the same black…stuff—they couldn't think of a better word—that was around that horrible thing with pink eyes they saw in the white flash. It seemed to emit from every inch of Kira's body—like some kind of gas but more wavy and solid. Though, there was one difference to the black stuff that made up the thing they had seen to the vapor that clung to Kira's body.

The gas was purple.

"I have better things to do than this."

His smile was gone and emotionless eyes stared at them.

And a conversation took place in their mind.

_Steven…what are we up against?_

_…I don't know._

* * *

Part of him was aware that he didn't need to be so violent. The part that kept telling him that he needed to hold back—that these women had just fallen for that bastard's plan. They didn't deserve this. But that part was distant. At best, he could faintly hear it whisper to him.

Because that part of Josuke was buried underneath all of his fury.

"I dare you..."

Just as the one with the long nose swung her blue spear at him, he channeled the energy within him. Crazy Diamond's arm became his own and he lifted it above him. A strike that would have sliced across his head had instead hit his now pink and silver coated limb. He watched as her eyes widen in shock as her weapon  _bounced_ off his arm, but before she could retreat, Crazy Diamond had materialized to his side.

"To say that again!"

And then his Stand rushed her.

**_"DORA!"_ **

Its right fist struck her on the cheek as her head whipped to the side. The strength of his Stand's punch sent her flying, and he watched as her body crashed through a building—leaving a large hole when she plowed through the bricks. His eyes immediately flickered to the afro woman charging toward him with one gauntlet fist raised next to her head. Crazy Diamond returned to his side as his glare focused on the visor-clad woman.

"Whose hair looks like uglier than dog shit that's been sitting on the road for three weeks!?"

With that scream, his Stand flew through the air. Just as the woman entered his range, Crazy Diamond was already a few feet away from her as it launched a cross that would have hit the afro woman right in her center mass.

But she did something that surprised him. Even with all of his rage, his eyes still widened at what he saw.

She had already thrown her raised fist, but midway through its path, she suddenly changed its direction, now aiming lower. Her fist was now heading towards Crazy Diamond's _own fist._

And when they met, his ears were hit by a loud boom. The strength of both his Stand and this woman's fist caused the very ground they stood on to shake. The shockwaves that had been caused when the two punches met rocked the flame-covered streets and buildings.

Pain exploded within his hand. That pain cleared away just enough of his anger to allow him to think. And he suddenly realized that he needed to distance himself away from this woman, now.

Because something very _wrong_ just happened.

Crazy Diamond immediately pushed the fist that that had hit its own to the side before the afro woman had a chance to pull it back. And his Stand immediately rushed her before she could get back into her guard.

**_"DORA!"_ **

This time Crazy Diamonds fist hit the alien in her visor, and he heard it crack. The force sent the maroon-skinned woman flying backward. She crashed through the windows of a store—some kind of bakery—as she went over a counter and disappeared from his sight.

Seeing that he had bought himself a minute, he quickly turned his head to his right hand as he took off the glove covering it.

And saw that his hand was bleeding. Small cuts were present on his skin and a faint bruise was forming near his knuckles. His blood mixed with the rain falling from above, giving his hand a glossy red sheen.

…What?

He couldn't look away from the blood trailing down his hand.

She had hit Crazy Diamond. She had hit his  _Stand._  Something that no normal person should be able to do. She had somehow been able to  _see_  his Stand attacking her and was able to match its blow. He could still feel the power from that punch, and the fact that something that wasn't a Stand had so much power shouldn't be possi-.

No. That was wrong.

His eyes narrowed.

He reviewed what just happened in his mind again. How the gauntlet-wearing woman had moved her punch at the last minute to clash with Crazy Diamond's own blow. She somehow knew that something was about to punch her…but only at the last moment.

She couldn't see it.

If she could have, then she wouldn't have bothered trying to aim a punch at him and instead aim at his Stand that was so much closer to hitting her. He didn't know how, but somehow, she  _knew_ an attack was coming at her, and she immediately changed the path of her punch. Never once had any of the alien women shown any signs of seeing his Stand. And if they somehow spontaneously saw his Stand for a moment, they would be shocked—because who wouldn't be after seeing something literally appear out of thin air?

But regardless as to how the visor-clad woman had known about his attack, that didn't change the fact that she was still able to hit his Stand.

It didn't change the fact that the rules for Stands—rules that he had thought were unbreakable—had suddenly changed.

But he couldn't spend any more time on those thoughts.

He turned his head and looked at the buildings the alien women had gone through. His eyes turned into a different shade of blue, and his vision increased—almost like a hawk's now. Through the rain and the smoke—which had died somewhat since the storm began—he could now see inside the buildings.

And he saw no trace of the alien women.

Damn.

He looked around, muscles tensing as he began to think of as many strategies as he could given his situation.

And from the corner of his eye, he saw lightning touch the ground somewhere in the forest near the outskirts of town.

* * *

This was bad.

Pearl could still feel the blow that man had landed on her cheek. She hadn't even seen him move, but somehow, he had hit her with a punch that might rival Garnet's.

He was that powerful. Rarely had she ever met a Gem that wasn't a fusion who was this strong. Jasper was one, but she had been the literal epitome of a Quartz soldier concerning power. Even  _Bismuth_ would have trouble matching his strength.

She bit her lip.

Damn it, she didn't mean to think like that but-.

Stop it.

Just focus.

After shaking off most of the pain from his attack, she had exited the building she had crashed into through the back. When she took a step through the door back into the rain—getting worse every second, now like a monsoon—she thought about her next course of action. She needed to regroup with Garnet. It was clear now that attacking him by herself would be reckless and stupid. But she couldn't go out in the open again to try and find her leader.

It was then she saw the ladder that led to the roof of the building.

And that led her to her current situation. Her hiding behind one of the ventilators on the roof of a building, rain pouring down on her as she peaked her head around her hiding spot to look at the street below.

And at the man who had killed Peridot and Jenny. At the man who was just standing there in the middle of the road as the rain pelted both him and the fires from nearby buildings. It was tempting to just leap from her spot on the roof to the ground below and attack him. She seemed to have the element of surprise…but she knew that wasn't true.

She recognized the stance he was in—even with the rain somewhat obscuring her vision. It was something she had seen from battle hardened Gems during the war. A stance that had been developed after constant life or death fights.

It was the stance of a warrior that was ready for anything.

Just find Garnet. Just move as quickly and quietly as possible and find her. She couldn't take him alone and-.

She felt something grab her shoulder from behind. She whirled around and was about to reach for her gem with her right hand-.

But then she saw it was just Garnet. She immediately stopped reaching and relaxed, letting out a breath.

"Oh, thank goodness it's you."

She kept her voice low—though she did make sure it wasn't low enough that Garnet couldn't hear it over the rain.

"How did you get here? I didn't see you even leave the store that brute sent you through."

"There was a manhole behind it. I went through there."

Her leader's simple reply—spoken in a voice just as low as her own—made her blink.

"Then, how did you know I was-?"

"Future vision."

Oh, right. She had forgotten about that.

But now that Garnet was here, they could strategize.

Slowly, she craned her neck around the ventilator again. And the man had yet to move an inch from his spot in the rain. And then her eyes moved towards one of the buildings all the way down the street. The one with the large hole that Amethyst had created.

"I don't think Amethyst will be getting up for a while."

She turned back to face Garnet, the maroon Gem's lips turning into a frown before she spoke.

"No, she won't be."

She hadn't even seen the man move, but somehow in an instant, he had managed to strike Amethyst hard enough to send her body flying through the air. In less than a second, had been able to  _poof her_ like she was nothing.

What exactly were they facing?

"Do you know how long she'll be out?"

Garnet's frown became deeper.

"No. I don't."

Garnet let out a small growl; and even with the visor, she could still see the frustration within her eyes.

"That man…is very confusing. In so many ways."

She blinked again.

"What do you mean?"

"It…when he hit me, my future vision showed me… _something._ "

There was confusion in Garnet's expression.

"I…I saw his attack coming but it was like…I could only see  _parts_  of it. It was the same thing that happened back on the beach. I knew something was coming, but I couldn't properly see what it was exactly. I saw a punch coming through my future vision, but it was like  _that man_ wasn't the one throwing the punch. And for a second down there I…"

She trailed off, struggling to find the right words. A moment later, she continued.

"I hit  _something._ There was something down there that I know I hit, but it was…it  _felt_ different. I didn't have the time to see what exactly  _it_  was because the next thing I knew, I was flying."

Garnet tilted her head down and raised her arms slightly. Behind her visor, she was staring at her somewhat scratched knuckles.

"It was like there was something else just…standing near him. Something that just…appeared from nothing and then attacked."

That sounded…complicated, to put it lightly.

She stared at her leader.

"Could there be another invisible Gem near him? Maybe that's why you can't see his attacks? Because he isn't the one attacking?"

That seemed like the most likely explanation. Not even a second after he had deflected her spear, she felt something ram into her cheek—and she hadn't seen the man so much as twitch!

"I…maybe."

She wasn't used to seeing Garnet like this. Garnet never hesitated—she was never unsure about anything—but now for the first time she almost looked…lost.

But they needed to be focused right now.

"Garnet, should we fuse?"

Her words brought Garnet out of her thoughts. Her leader's expression was contemplative as she took a moment to respond.

"No. There are still people in the town. We would do a lot of damage as Sardonyx, so we should only fuse when there's no chance of anyone getting hurt."

She nodded.

"Alright. Then how do you think we should proceed until the town is clear?"

Garnet placed a hand under her chin. For a few moments, she stood perfectly still in the rain and said nothing. But eventually, she continued.

"Do you remember when that squadron of Alabasters had us cornered in that forest?"

How could she forget? It was one of the most important missions of the war. They had to take down a communications tower that was guarded by a Turquoise and the elite Alabaster soldiers under her command. They had tried to sneak in through a forest that flanked the tower, traveling for days through a thick undergrowth. Unfortunately, their enemy had spotted them, and the Alabasters hunted them down.

It was only through guerrilla warfare that they ever made it through that battle.

"You want to strike him and then retreat?"

Garnet nodded her head.

"One of us distracts, then the other attacks. We both get away the moment we have a chance and hide, and then repeat. We do this until all the humans get out of town, and then we fuse into Sardonyx."

"Garnet…"

She trailed off, and in her mind she could see just how fast the man had been as he dealt with Amethyst. She could see him casually blocking her spear like it was nothing.

"Are you sure that will work? That man—or at least, something down there—is strong enough to send  _you_ of all people flying. And if there really is something else fighting alongside him that we can't even see..."

"If there is another Gem there, it's obvious that it will only attack when we get close to that man. Otherwise, we probably would have already been ambushed several times since we started talking."

That…did make sense. But still, this Gem—or possibly Gems—were unlike anything they had ever faced. They had no idea what other abilities he might have. If they made a mistake, it could very well cost them their lives.

"And also, right now it's our best plan."

Garnet's expression hardened as the rain continued to pelt her visor.

She knew her leader was right. This was the best plan they could come up with given the circumstance.

So, she let out a breath, and then spoke.

"Alright, let's do it."

There was no hesitation in her voice. She stared right into Garnet's emotionless face as her leader nodded.

"Good. Now then…"

Garnet craned her neck around the ventilator, looking down at the man below.

"Here's what I need you to do…"

* * *

There was no way he actually won.

Josuke ignored the growing wetness of his clothes as he glanced around. Thanks to his Stand's eyes, the rain and lingering smoke around him did little to hinder his vision. He could see everything clearly—from the buildings to the roofs—but his eyes still had yet to find those two alien women.

His frown became deeper.

They were hiding. That he was positive on. There was no way he won  _that_ easily. Fighting Stand User after Stand User had made him learn that  _thinking_ he had won a battle was a good way to get ambushed. So many times when he thought he won, his opponent would pull out a trick—bizarre, deadly, tricks—and suddenly he would be bleeding from ten different places.

And even though he wasn't fighting another Stand User—for once—that didn't mean that these alien women didn't have their own unique abilities. Each one of the three alien women had their own personal weapons. The ivory one a spear, the maroon one a pair of gauntlets, and the purple one had a whip. But who knows what else they had in store. When he had hit the short one through a building, he remembered seeing a purple light, and then she was gone. Could she had somehow teleported? Camouflaged herself to her surroundings and preparing to attack him?

He had no idea what was coming. He had no idea what abilities these alien women possessed. So, he decided he would wait for them to make the first move.

It was reckless—of that there was no question. He was just standing out in the open, completely exposed and vulnerable to any attack. He could have run, he could have tried to find a place to hide or perhaps even search for them in the storm. But this was their town. They were the ones who protected it. They knew this place inside and out. And they most likely knew how to hide from enemies if they ever ended up in situations like this.

Which was why he stayed perfectly still. Right now, he needed to get a general idea as to what these aliens' capabilities were. Best way to do that was to allow them to come up with whatever strategy they wanted given the circumstance, and then he would counter it. Besides, for once he was in a fight where he had a few advantages over his opponent. While he didn't know how the afro-haired woman intercepted Crazy Diamond's punch, he was still certain that both she and the ivory one couldn't see his Stand. And they also didn't know about Crazy Diamond's other abilities as well.

His eyes glanced around. The rain was getting heavier—he could feel every drop of water that soaked his hair. He thought back to the purple one as she seemed to disappear. He thought of the purple light he saw.

And he was sure that there was  _something_ else he had seen there. What, he didn't know, but his gut was telling him it-.

He saw something moving on the roof.

His eyes instantly narrowed at the shape he had just seen, adjusting his head to get a better look. It was only for an instant, but he saw something run from what looked like a ventilator to another spot on the roof.

They were fast.

He took a step back to see if he could get a better view of the roof. To see if he could spot the alien.

And when he saw another shape amidst the heavy downpour once again sprint, he knew he found her. His eyes tracked her every movement—even though she was nothing but a blur of white—and watched as she got to the edge of the roof.

And watched as she slipped off the edge the moment she put her foot on it. She fell with a startled cry into the alley between the building she was on and the one only a few feet away. He didn't see her crash—from his position on the street the alley was at an awkward angle—but he did hear the impact from her crash. He could hear her groan as it sounded like she was shakily getting up.

They were durable.

Slowly, he began to walk to the alley. His boots made small splashes on the concrete as his eyes narrowed

And apparently very stupid if they thought he would fall for something like this. He'd seen a rat set up a better trap than this.

Once he was decided he was in a good enough position, he called Crazy Diamond to his side. His Stand then dug one hand into the concrete. A large chunk of the road was lifted into the air as his Stand pulled it back.

**_"DORA!"_ **

His Stand threw the slab of concrete like fastball. He watched as the chunk hurled through the air until it reached the mouth of the alley. The moment it made contact, a plume of dust erupted as the shattered pieces of the slab shot into the alley.

And he heard a loud groan followed by the sounds of heavy objects making contact with something soft.

Now then…

He ran as fast as his legs could move.

Finish her before she can recover.

He was at the entrance of the alley in seconds. With Crazy Diamond's vision, he could see a shape moving with the cloud of dust that was spreading everywhere. He could see something with cone-shaped hair only inches away from him. And then he heard a scream.

"Parry!"

Wait, what?

A blue spear stabbed forward from within the dust—inches away from skewering him through his chest. Crazy Diamond was already moving as it grabbed the spear with one hand before it could pierce him. His Stand pulled hard on the spear—moving through the air with swift speed as it did so—and he watched as the shape was lifted off their feet.

He blinked when the shape was pulled out of the cloud. Because that was not the same woman he had expected to see.

Because while the shape and features of the thing Crazy Diamond pulled out of the dust did reassemble the peach-hair woman, there were some differences. Namely, the fact that her skin had gone from ivory to blue. The fact that her eyes were now completely red.

And the fact that he could literally see through her as if she wasn't there.

"Pa-!"

**_"DORA!"_ **

Before the blue alien-like person could finish, Crazy Diamond threw its fist right into her cheek just as it was completely pulled out of the cloud. He heard something crack and the blue woman was sent crashing to the wall. Her body left a deep imprint on the black bricks.

And not even a second later, she disappeared. It was like she had fizzled out of reality—like his Stand would do, but with more…static.

And the moment she had disappeared, he heard something shouting from within the dust cloud. And a second later, the ivory-skinned woman ran out with a blue spear.

"Take thi-!"

She never finished as Crazy Diamond moved. It spun in the air as it got in front of the alien woman in an instant. And in the middle of its spin, it swung its arm backward as the back of its forearm slammed into her nose.

**_"DORA!"_ **

"AAAH!"

She screamed as she was sent flying backward—and somehow her nose stayed in perfect shape even after the blow she took. She flew back into the dust cloud—the wind from her flight causing the cloud to scatter, the alley now clear. He saw her crash into the side of a dumpster, and she landed face first on the ground.

Not wasting this chance, he rushed forward. And just as the ivory woman began to push herself up, his Crazy Diamond moved through the air until it was right above her prone form. It lifted its leg up to its chest.

And then, it roared before it began to stomp.

**_"DORARARRARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARAARARARARARARARARARARARA!"_ **

Crazy Diamond moved so fast it was like his Stand had grown multiple sets of legs. Rapid fire stomps of pink and silver struck the alien woman. Crazy Diamond's leg was nothing more than a blur, and each stomp caused deep cracks to form in the concrete. Every hit that landed made the alien woman scream—and Crazy Diamond's blows were only getting faster.

But something was…wrong. Even as his Stand pulverized the alien on the concrete with its unbelievably fast stomps…Something was-.

"RAAAA!"

His eyes widened as he turned around. The maroon-skinned woman was only a few feet away from him—both of her gauntlet fist raised and pulled back. Fury consumed her entire face as she threw two punches forward.

Shit!

He acted quickly, channeling the energy inside him. Crazy Diamond disappeared from existence—stopping the beatdown it was delivering to the ivory woman as a result. In an instant, his Stand reappeared in front of him, arms crossed just as it blocked the maroon skinned woman's fists.

And the moment her fist smashed into Crazy Diamond's arms, he felt his own explode with pain. He  _felt_ the shockwave that came when she made contact with his Stand.

HOLY-!

Both he and his Stand were lifted off their feet and sent flying. The rain now collided against his skin at ridiculous speeds as he was shot out of the alley—passing over the prone form of the ivory woman. He called his Stand behind him just as he was about to crash onto the street.

But even with his Stand, this was still gonna hurt.

His Stand kept him from physically touching the ground—keeping him  _just slightly_  above the street with one arm. But Crazy Diamond still crashed into the ground at intense speeds. It was the one that felt its back getting shredded to bits as it slid along the wet concrete.

And whatever his Stand felt, he felt.

And it was impossible not to feel the blood that erupted from his back.

Crazy Diamond continued to slide on the ground until they both crashed into the wall of a building all the way at the other end of the new street they entered. He let out a painful grunt the moment his back made contact.

Okay, before he had a suspicion. Now, that punch had confirmed it.

The maroon woman was stronger than Crazy Diamond.

He got up as quickly as he could—stumbling slightly before standing tall. He could feel the blood leaking on his back mix with the rain. But he ignored his pain as his mind began to analyze the visor-wearing woman.

When they first traded blows, he saw that the afro woman hadn't even flinched when her and Crazy Diamond's fists collided. Even though he knew Crazy Diamond had thrown its all into the punch, all it was able to do was stop the maroon alien's blow. And immediately after, his own hand had erupted with blood.

And that was when the alien woman had to stop and change the path of her punch mid-strike. When the power behind her fist was  _weaker_ than what it would normally be.

His breaths came out in heavy gasps.

In other words, he had just met someone—something that wasn't even a Stand—that had greater power than Crazy Diamond.

His eyes quickly darted towards the alley he had just been ejected from. And both the long-nosed and visor wearing women were gone.

His eyes narrowed. So that was their game. Hit and run tactics.

Fine then...

He slowly looked around him. Eyeing every roof and every alley he could see. The road was completely flooded here—almost up to his ankles. There weren't any fires on this street, but he could still see thick columns of smoke rise into the air over a set of buildings. The rain had dealt with a majority of the fires, but it would still take a while for the flames to be completely extinguished.

...that would be easy enough to counter.

He looked to the alley the aliens had just been in. And his eyes honed on an object left on the ground. All he had to do was grab that and-.

He heard something behind him. It was…familiar.

He eyes widened as he whirled around. It took him a second, but he remembered what that sound was.

Electricity.

The moment he finished turning, he had just enough time to see arcs of blue electricity jump from the rushing water around him until they launched themselves towards him. Crazy Diamond was in front of him in an instant, arms crossed as it blocked some of the bolts of blue light with its silver arm guards.

Unfortunately, it could only block some. The rest were jumping from spots his Stand couldn't guard against, so the only thing he could do was watch as bright blue volts slammed into him from every angle.

"GAAAAAHHHHHHH!"

Pain rippled through him. The blue volts seared him from within as his body spasmed uncontrollably. His limbs would be locked up for one moment—like they had damn chains wrapped around them—before they would twist and bend at unnatural angles. He could see the electricity jump around his body as it continued to fry his nerves. He couldn't keep Crazy Diamond in existence anymore—the pain far too great—as his Stand disappeared in a flurry of pink sparkles.

Shit, it was Chili Pepper all over again! Only this time he was sure that the electricity was even more powerful!

His eyes darted around as his convulsing grew worse. And as they flickered everywhere, he saw the maroon-skinned woman on a nearby roof. Her gauntlets were sparking with bright blue electricity as she touched a thick stream of liquid that descended to the ground and to the water surrounding him.

But where was-?

He fell to his knees, head twisting without his control, and his eyes widened as he saw the ivory woman—spotting some large bruises—charging at him. The peach-haired alien roared, twirling like an elegant dancer as she swung her spear high, poised to slice his neck off.

Amidst the agony, he knew that there was no way he could concentrate enough to call the complete form of his Stand.

However…

He reached within himself, trying his best to block out as much pain as possible. He felt the familiar energy inside him and channeled as much as he could into reality. And in less than a second, a bright pink arm with silver plating appeared right by his side—floating in the air.

...he could at least call its arm.

Just as the spear would have decapitated him, he had the phantom arm of his Stand grab his jacket. The disembodied limb then threw him right under the spear, just avoiding it. The force of the throw sent him skidding across the ground—body no longer being fried by blue sparks. He saw the ivory woman stumble a bit as her swing missed him—eyes wide as she whipped her head around to stare.

He eventually stopped tumbling along the flooded ground once he crashed onto a street curb. He quickly stood up, and with a glance, he saw that he was only a few feet away from the alley he had been ejected from.

Without looking behind him, he ran into the alley. And after a few seconds of running, he saw the object he wanted from before. Without breaking stride, he picked up the object from the ground before he sprinted out of the alley.

Now he just needed one more thing.

* * *

That confirmed it.

Garnet jumped from roof to roof—behind her visor, her three eyes were narrowed.

There was something else with this man.

Jumping over the edge of another roof, she leaped through the air before landing on another building in a roll. Getting out of the roll as quickly as she could, she sprinted along the new roof and looked at the street below.

At the man running away from them. Even with the heavy rainfall and the crackling of flames from nearby buildings, she could still hear the splashes his footsteps made as he sprinted.

There was something else with that man. There was something like the thing they had fought at the beach.

She turned her head to the side, and through the heavy downpour of rain, she saw Pearl—moving slower than usual, but that was because of her injuries from this Gem. And while she couldn't see Pearl's face, she knew that her friend's eyes were honed on to the man running on the street.

When he had cornered Pearl in the alley, he had not moved. She had seen him stay perfectly still as he watched her friend. He had not even so much as twitched—of that she was positive.

Yet somehow, Pearl was attacked. Somehow, her friend had obviously been repeatedly assaulted by something fast and strong—if the cracks on the street was a good indicator.

And the man had not moved.

Before—when Amethyst had been sent flying through a building—she thought that maybe the man had just moved too fast for her to see. And again, she thought the same when she had been hit and sent flying through a store. But that was not the case. This wasn't speed.

At least, it wasn't  _the man's_ speed.

No, it was something else. Something was right next to the man. An invisible aide that had been helping him throughout this fight. Something that had stood between her fist and the man just as she was about to hit him in the alley. Something that she couldn't even see with future vision.

Something that was very dangerous.

The man turned as the road curved, and she lost sight of him as a building obscured her view. She jumped over another gap—leaping through a column of smoke as she did so—and landed on a building that let her see the man.

He had stopped running, now standing on a curb right next to a car.

She didn't hesitate to take this chance. She crouched down before jumping over a large gap to a building only a few feet away from the man. Once she landed right on the edge of the rood, her gauntlets began to spark with blue electricity. The street here didn't have as much water covering it as the previous one, but she would make do.

But as she landed, she saw that the man was holding something in his right hand. She couldn't quite see it, but it almost looked like-.

Suddenly she had a vision.

It was of Pearl flying through the air towards the man before in the next second she was sent careening to a building.

What?

* * *

Josuke was aware of the fact that the maroon-skinned woman had landed on the building right next to him. So, he had to move fast.

Crazy Diamond's limb overlaid with his own, and the blue ribbon from the ivory woman's dress in his hand began to glow with a yellow aura.

"WOAH!"

Glancing to the left, he saw the ivory one enveloped in the same yellow aura—not that she could see it—as she slowly floated up into the air from the roof she had been standing on.

"Wha-What is going-!"

She didn't finish. Because she had suddenly began to fly towards him at incredible speeds—the rain around her scattering as she continued her flight. The force from his Stand's power sent her careening faster and faster with every second as she screamed in panic.

But before she got close, he called Crazy Diamond to his side. In less than a second, his Stand had moved towards the car, ripped out the driver's door, and hurled it right at the maroon-skinned woman on the roof above him.

**_"DORA!"_ **

The maroon-skinned woman didn't notice the door heading towards her, eyes still locked on her now flying friend as the blue sparks on her gauntlets slowly died. She did realize eventually though, as her head quickly whipped towards the flying car door heading towards her.

Though he couldn't see behind those visors, he was fairly certain that her eyes were wide just as the car door slammed into her face.

As the maroon-skinned woman was sent spiraling off the roof—along with the car door—he turned his attention back to the screaming ivory woman—whose arms were flailing as she headed towards him.

And once she was within range, Crazy Diamond charged forward.

**_"DORARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARA!"_ **

With that scream, Crazy Diamond moved so fast its arms seemed to multiply with every punch. Silver plated fists smashed into every inch of the ivory woman—he could hear a crunching sound with every impact. Pink arms reached a speed where they began to blur, and every cross or haymaker that landed left deep divots on the long-nosed woman's already bruised body.

**_"DORA!"_ **

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Crazy Diamond's launched one last impossibly swift punch that hit the ivory woman right in her nose, and this time, it did bend. Rain whirled off her as the ivory woman was sent careening, her body  _ricocheting_  off a nearby street lamp—and said lamp was severely bent upon impact—before she was sent spiraling towards a building.

And the moment she crashed into the wall, the brick that made it up exploded in a cloud of dust. A large hole was now present in the building as the dust slowly faded.

He let out a long breath as Crazy Diamond floated down to his side. His eyes narrowed at the hole in the building.

Because he saw a white light glow from within the hole. And now—thanks to his Stand's vision—he could see that the ivory woman was gone.

He placed the blue ribbon inside his jacket pocket as he scowled.

What the hell was going on? He was sure that the ivory woman was just there, but now she was gone in an instant? Was it some kind of teleportation? But if that were the case, then why didn't-.

Wait.

There was something in that hole.

He squinted.

It was hard to see exactly what it was—there were broken chunks of brick obscuring it—but he could tell it was some kind of…oval-like shape.

He took a few steps forward.

In his mind, he replayed him sending the purple one through the center of a building. He recalled how there had been a glow in the hole she had made as well, and how there seemed to be  _something_ left there after she seemingly disappeared.

He continued to walk closer to the hole.

And as almost all of the dust cleared because of the wind and heavy rainfall—his scarf doing next to nothing to keep him warm by this point—he got a clearer image of the object.

It almost looked like…some kind of egg? No, maybe more like a ro-?

"RAAAGHHHHHH!"

He recognized that roar as he whirled around, just in time to see the maroon-skinned woman descending towards him from above with both of her gauntlets pulled back.

Shit!

Crazy Diamond was already by his side as his stand grabbed a handful of his clothing with one arm. It then kicked on the ground as hard as it could with one leg.

**_"DORA!"_ **

Both he and Crazy Diamond flew to the side from the force of his Stand's kick. They just avoided the maroon skinned woman's fists as her gauntlets slammed into the concrete. And the moment they made contact, he felt the ground shake as the concrete around her fists exploded in a shower of dust and debris.

He and Crazy Diamond landed on the wet road—boots skidding for a moment before stopping—and he looked at the  _very large_ crater that had been formed in the middle of the street. It was like a portion of the road had collapsed in on itself.

Yeah. She was definitely stronger than Crazy Diamond.

Out from the cloud of dust, the maroon-skinned woman slowly walked towards him—and as more dust cleared he saw just how big the hole she had created really was.

He looked at the scowl on her face. He could almost see the rage in her eyes even with her visor on.

He let out a sigh. Once again, he heard thunder boom throughout the rainy street.

And then he charged right at her, Crazy Diamond floating right next to him as it screamed.

**_"DORA!"_ **

* * *

They didn't know what they were doing.

"Lion, go!"

Stevonnie rode on their trusted friend—sword pointed towards Kira as Lion charged. The pink animal's eyes were white as it opened its mouth. They could see pink energy slowly forming in its mouth, shaping itself into a small orb.

They weren't sure what they should do.

The ground in front of Kira cracked. As Lion got closer to the murderer, a large part of the ground was carved out from the rest. It seemed like the hunk of wet dirt and rock  _somehow_ gained a mind of its own as it slowly floated into the air.

And—just like so many times throughout the fight before—the hunk of ground was thrown right at them. Somehow.

Lion acted quickly and jumped over the hunk of dirt. The boulder went right under their friend, missing its target and hitting the ground behind them in a shower of rocks. Landing back on the ground, Lion gave a roar.

And the moment he did, the energy in his mouth blast out in several sets of pink rings—almost twice as big as them. Parts of the rings tore through the ground with ease as they headed for Kira. The murderer still had on his emotionless expression, and for a moment, they saw it again. That weird purple… _stuff_  that clung to his body like some kind of thick steam. Just for a second—a literal second before it disappeared back into nothing—but they knew what they saw.

So many strange things had been happening since this fight began.

Kira did not even blink as just before the rings could hit him, he jumped out of the way—leaping at least fifteen feet into the air. The rings continued on their path until they crashed into the side of Kira's house—the left side now erupting in a shower of moldy bricks and splinters as it crumbled to the ground.

It frustrated them how… _weird_ the things they saw were.

Just as Kira landed, they threw their shield at him, the pink weapon spinning on its side as the rain whirled right off it. Lion ran even faster—not too far behind their shield—as they got closer and closer to Kira.

The things they had seen…confused them. They had seen things that… that…

But just as the murderer got up from the ground, just as the shield was only a few feet away from hitting him….

It stopped. Right in midair.

It stopped like it was stuck in a wall.

Their eyes widened. How-?

Lightning hit the ground somewhere. A white light once again washed over the area.

And they saw something. Something holding onto their shield. It was a hand—a vague, blurry shape that they could barely even see in the rain and white light—but they could tell it was a hand. A hand that seemed to be made of nothing but some kind of… _physical darkness—_ and that was honestly the only thing they could think of to describe it.

They glanced up—trying to see what was connected to the hand.

And they saw pink eyes glaring at them. Pink eyes that were so,  _so,_ cold. Like the world's deadliest blizzard.

Their eyes widened.

They had seen things that scared them right down to their core parts.

In an instant, the white light from the lighting faded. In an instant, the shield that had stopped in midair was now heading right back towards them. They didn't have the time to react as it slammed right into their face. They felt their already bruised nose roar with fresh pain as they were sent flying off Lion's back.

_Steven, what was that!? What did he just do!?_

_I…I don't know!_

As another conversation in their mind took place, they landed on the wet dirt with a thud. They tumbled for a bit before they recovered, going into a roll before hopping back on their feet.

Just in time to see Lion careening towards them.

This time, they were able to react. They immediately stuck their arms out just as Lion collided with them—grabbing the pink animal by its fur. They skidded backward with Lion in their hands, leaving a trench of kicked-up dirt in the ground.

Once they stopped skidding on the wet grass, they gently put Lion back down on the ground. Lion took a few shaky steps around them as it let out a low growl. They saw that there was a bruise forming right behind his mane, so they spat on their hand and slapped it on Lion's fur. Lion bristled for a moment, but their healing spit immediately got rid of the bruise. Lion then shook its head to rid of any lasting dizziness as it glared back at Kira.

They saw that the murderer was no longer even looking at them. Instead, he was looking at his house.

"I liked that house."

Kira's voice was barely audible in the rain, but his words still reached their ears with ease.

Their grip on their sword grew tighter as they reformed their shield on their opposite elbow.

"It wasn't the prettiest, but like I told you two all those months ago, it spoke to me. But now, it's no longer my house. Now, because of you two, it's just food for the rat's as it continues to decay."

The murderer brought a hand to his face. And while she couldn't see the front side of him, they knew he was pinching the bridge of his nose. They could practically see his exasperated expression as he sighed.

"Do you brats even understand the maintenance I had to single-handedly do for this house? I had to clean up every spot of God knows what with the strongest bleach I could find. For days I had to exterminate the nest of vermin that were everywhere ."

He sighed again as he shook his head.

Lion was growling

"But of course you wouldn't understand. You two still have parents to take care of you, so your ignorant of the true hassle that is home ownership."

They were gnashing their teeth together.

"Well, technically you Maheswaran know what it's like. Universe, with how distorted your 'family' is, I doubt that you even know what it means to be-."

"Stop talking and just fight!"

They screamed. Their left eye was twitching again—far more violently than before. Lion roared, anger rising in its eyes as they began to turn white.

Kira didn't respond right away. The only sound was the rumbling of thunder and the heavy descent of rain.

Then he slowly began to turn around.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Are you angry?"

That mocking, sarcastic voice only made them snarl. They were about to charge again, but before they could even think about moving, Kira fully turned to face them.

And they saw his eyes were no longer purple, but pink. The frigid glare he gave them was enough to suck all the breath out of their body.

"I'm just a tad  _perturbed_ that my house is now in ruins. So, excuse me if I come off as rude."

He took a step forward, and they immediately took a step back. When they realized what they did, their eyes widened.

Were…were they shaking?

"Though, I suppose I can forgive your comment. After all, it's obvious now that you two seem to realize the error of your ways."

He smiled. It was an absolutely horrible smile. So sadistic and cruel that it shouldn't have been possible on a face so human. And it was then they realized that yes, they were shaking. They were…were…

Scared.

They were scared of him.

_Stevonnie?_

They tried not to be but…

_Stevonnie!_

But it was impossible. They were afraid, and the fear kept rising. It felt like the Cluster all over again. Only this time, it was even worse. This time there was no stopping the monster in front of them. This time-.

They let out a grunt as they felt something pierce their right leg. They looked down and saw that Lion had lightly bit them with its teeth. The pink animal stared at them with an impassive expression. And they instantly understood.

They couldn't lose control. Not now. Not with so much riding on their shoulders.

They let out a small breath before they turned to glare at Kira. They focused on all the anger inside them—the anger born from all the pain he had caused to their town and family—and gathered it into their expression. They could no longer feel any traces of fear as they pointed their sword at the murderer.

"My name is not 'Maheswaran' or 'Universe!'"

With that shout, they grabbed a handful of the green top and pink star shirt on their chest with their other arm.

"My name is Stevonnie! Fusion of Steven and Connie! The one that's gonna beat you and make you pay for everything you did!"

Lion roared.

And Kira's smile faded as his lips turned into a thin line.

"Oh? Is that right?"

There was no way they could miss the malice slowly growing within his hollow purple eyes. They saw hatred—hatred that was cold as the rain around them—leak from every inch of his presence.

They refused to look away, their glare only becoming harsher with every second.

"Bold words coming from a glorified hammer."

They didn't respond for a moment. Those words kept ringing in their head, each time slower than the last.

And then they growled.

"What was that?!"

Kira's lips were in a frown.

"Oh, what? You know it's accurate."

They took a step forward as they let out another growl—this one louder than before. Lion was right by their side as the pink animal glared at the murderer with its ferocious eyes.

"What was it Jasper called you Fusions again? Cheap tactics? That was being far too kind."

The rage within them rose with every word that left the murderers mouth. And he just kept talking.

"You think that you're a  _person_? Someone with a  _will_? Someone that can actually  _live_?"

He rolled his eyes.

"Don't make me laugh. You're nothing more than a tool for two children. You're only useful in battle against their enemies. Your only purpose is the same as a sword, or a hammer, or a gun or even a God damn stick."

Even though it was raining—even though the air was so cold—they felt like they were on fire. They knew their eyes now held nothing but hatred as their lips were in a deep scowl.

"You're just a weapon. Not some 'spectacular' new being that is somehow better than the two brats that made it up."

"No, I'm not!"

They were roaring. Their voice was full of fury as they took a step forward. Every word that left their mouth had nothing but fire within them.

"I am not some weapon! I am something more than just Steven and Connie put together! And they don't view me as a tool!"

"Really now?"

His emotionless voice—not even slight bothered by their screaming—made their fingers tighten even more around the handle of their sword. From the corner of their eye, they saw their shield waver.

Lion gave them a glance. And they understood what the pink animal wanted. But they couldn't be calm, not when this bastard wasn't even acknowledging their existence!

"Tell me, Steven and Connie fuse sometimes just to let you 'exist,' correct?"

They didn't respond. They only glared at the bastard.

"In those moments, I sure it feels wonderful for you not to be locked in two brat's psyche. It must feel amazing to actually walk with your own two legs and be able to breathe with your own lungs. But then, just as quickly as it came, those wonderful feelings disappear just as soon as those two brats grow tired of being, well, you."

They were snarling.

"Even if they say they view you as a 'person,' a tiny part of them will always realize one simple fact. That they can never  _be_ you. That they  _can't_  be you. They have lives. They have a  _will_  and you…don't."

_That's not true! We-!_

Whatever Connie was about to say they didn't hear. They could only hear the words of the bastard in front of them.

"Oh sure, there's Garnet. She seems to have a will, but that's only because the people who make her up don't  _want_ to unfuse. Ruby and Sapphire are content with their state of being because they are closer than ever. But their decision has nothing to do with Garnet, it's purely based on  _their own_  desires. Not the weapons."

_Don't listen!_

_He's…he's lying! Don't fall for it!_

They tried not to listen to Kira. They knew it was just another trick for them to recklessly charge in, and that they would be an idiot to fall for it again.

But…but…

This bastard…was mocking everything that they stood for! Everything that made up every part of them! There was no way he was right! There was no way what he was describing was  _fusion!_ They wouldn't believe that! Not now, or ever!

And all of the rage within them, all of their anger and hatred, would not stop growing as he continued to speak.

"At the end of the day, they only value you when they're under duress. When they need a  _thing_ to help them out, not a  _person._ So, just face it.. _."_

He looked right into their eyes. Eyes that held nothing but anger—that told him exactly what they wanted to do to him—and he didn't care. Because to him, they didn't even matter.

_Stevonnie, wait, don't-!_

"You're just a weapon, Stevonnie. That's all you are."

He let out another sigh as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

"And my God, that is the stupidest name I have ever heard, even for a weapon. Naming yourself after a rock would have been better than-."

"RAAAGHHHHHHH!"

They let out a scream filled with every ounce of fury within them. Once again, they were sprinting towards him—this time even faster than before. This time though, Lion was by their side, doing its best to match their speed.

They shot a glance at Lion. The message on their face clear.

Lion nodded as it went to the left while they went to the right. They continued to run on the wet ground until they were directly to the side of Kira. They threw their shield again, but this time they aimed it higher than before.

Kira did not even move as he watched their shield sail over his head. All he did was raise an eyebrow.

And then Lion roared. A pink portal appeared in the air right in front of their shield. The pink shield went through the portal just before it disappeared.

And then, both they and Lion charged forward towards Kira, attacking him from both sides. The murderer still had yet to move as he lazily folded his arms—and they saw him glancing at the watch on his wrist.

This bastard wouldn't be so smug in a second.

Just as both they and Lion got within twenty feet, Lion let loose another roar. Pink energy shot out of his mouth and flew through the air before it took the shape of another portal.

Right above Kira's head. And from within the portal, their pink shield came out—spinning on its sides as it descended towards the arrogant murderer. Right as both they and Lion were only a few feet away from him. Lion had his mouth open as all of his teeth were in full view, and they were already lashing out with a swift swing aimed for Kira's torso.

Three attacks. One coming from above, the other coming from two different sides. No matter what kind of monster he was, there was no way he could block it.

Lions teeth were inches away, their sword was so close to slicing him and their shield was just about to slam right into the murderer.

There was no wa-.

They didn't finish that thought.

Because the purple steam from before returned.

And they saw the hand made of darkness appear from nothing and grab the shield just before it could hit Kira. The hand then brought down the shield right into Lion's face just as he was about sink his teeth into Kira's neck.

And as it struck Lion, they saw that the darkness was growing. Shapes began to form as the hand—no wait, now it had become an arm—brought the shield around to block their swing. They stared at their transparent shield.

At the pitch black legs that were suddenly planted firmly on the ground.

At the dark torso that looked human but not.

They stared as hollow pink eyes glared at them through their shield.

They shrieked. They jumped back away from Kira, landing a good distance away from him as they continued to stare with wide eyes. The thing was gone now—just like their shield—but they knew what they had seen. Lion—who had been knocked back from the blow—looked at them with confusion in his eyes.

What…what was that? It looked like…like-.

"You…"

They looked at Kira. The murderer was looking at them with narrowed eyes.

"You can see  _it_ …can't you?"

He took a step forward—the malice in his expression rising as his lips twisted into a deep frown.

"I had thought that you could only see  _it_  in your dreams, Universe. I thought that even though you saw  _it_ there, that didn't mean you could possibly see  _it_ in reality."

The cruelty in his eyes kept growing—his purple pupils were now nothing more than a pair of dark pits. They could see all of the sick, horrible desires within him through his purple eyes, and their throat suddenly felt dry.

"But really, I should have expected this. Nothing is truly impossible, after all. Though, I know for a fact that you're not like me, so in the end, it doesn't really matter."

The purple steam was back again. And once again, they saw something. Something dark with lifeless pink eyes. Something that seemed to be  _leaking_ shadows as it stood next to Kira. Something that, while blurry, was still enough to make the fear in their chest so much stronger.

Because they recognized that thing. It was something they had seen in their dreams over and over again.

_That…that's not…_

_Steven? Steven what's-?_

_This can't….how is this possible!_

_Steven, just…just calm…It…_

The panicked voices in their mind—and they had every right to be scared—only made their heart beat like a drum. Horror began to twist them from within as they took another step back.

"What…What is that thing!?"

Kira raised a brow.

"Why, isn't it obvious, Universe? The creature from your dreams."

Suddenly, the darkness that seemed to make up the things entire existence began to fade. And as the shadows slowly disappeared—black speck by black speck, dark blot by dark blot—pink skin was unveiled to the world.

"The  _Shinigami_ of some many people. Or, in your tongue…"

They could see dark leather gloves.

"A Grim Reaper."

Muscled arms that looked human-like, but were so different, hung loosely around its sides. A dark, strange looking belt with a skull emblem wrapped around its waist.

"So, allow me to properly introduce the monster that helped me destroy that midget."

As the darkness around its head vanished, for the first time they could see its face. It looked almost like a cat—from the ears to even its eyes—but one thing made it so very clear that it was as far from a cat as possible. One thing made it obvious just what kind of monster they were facing.

Its eyes.

"My accomplice…"

Pink eyes that guaranteed  _death_ glared right at them. Hollow, emotionless eyes that were absolutely menacing. Its eyes held nothing but cold contempt, and they suddenly felt trapped. Helpless. As they were forced to look into its empty pupils, they felt like they were being choked in a monstrous grasp.

And then, it tilted its head at them. That was all it did, just tilt its head to the right slightly, like it was curious.

And that was all it took suddenly feel like they were drowning—their entire body going cold and everything around them becoming numb—as their eyes widened to a ridiculous size.

Suddenly, the world changed. An orange tint enveloped everything around them—from the forest to the ground, to even Kira and his monster. The rain stopped as once the orange glow finished surrounding everything, and they looked down.

Below by their feet, they saw Connie and Steven holding hands. Both of them facing the monster in front of them.

And they were both trembling. Just like them. Without even needing to see their faces, they could tell both of them were terrified.

Just like them.

Because just like them—as they all stared at this monster's eyes—they realized they had made a horrible,  _horrible_ mistake.

"KILLER QUEEN!"

With Kira's shout—the first time he had ever shouted—the monster raised its right arm until it was above its head. Then it brought its thumb up.

"Primary Bomb…"

They did not have to turn to face Kira to see his cruel smile. Not that they could even  _try_  to look away from this monster.

They could do nothing but watch as the monster brought its thumb down.

**"Engage."**

When its thumb made contact with the rest of its hand, the orange glow around them vanished in an instant—just like Steven and Connie. The rain returned and all around them, they could hear the echo of the raindrops hitting the ground.

They could hear the rumbling of thunder even as their body became scorching hot.

They could still see the monster and the murderer looking at them as pain erupted  _everywhere_.

And they could even hear their own screams as a great explosion consumed them.

_To Be Continued~_


	15. Out of Your Depth

Another fist slammed right into the wall behind him; he just barely moved his head out of the way in time.

Josuke growled as he whipped his head back towards the maroon woman, who once again ran towards him. Crazy Diamond materialized next to him, and then his Stand flew through the air towards the alien with a shout.

**_"DORA!"_ **

Crazy Diamond threw its fist at the same time as the alien. A silver-plated fist met a dark red gauntlet and a shockwave erupted from the impact, a boom echoing through the street. He once again felt his right-hand light up with pain as he grit his teeth; he felt the blood dripping from within his glove.

But he ignored the pain as he had Crazy Diamond pull back its fist and throw another punch at the afro-haired alien with its opposite arm; just as she did the same.

**_"DORA!"_ **

Crazy Diamond's fist once again met with the maroon woman, and another shockwave erupted. Pain exploded in his left hand, but once again he ignored it as his eyes narrowed.

Because he had to see something.

Crazy Diamond pulled back both its fist, and the maroon woman matched his Stand's movements. And then, both his Stand and the alien attacked.

**_"DORARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARA!"_ **

Crazy Diamond and the visor-wearing woman's arms were blurs as they threw punch after punch at one another; both his Stand and the alien seemed to grow multiple pairs of arms as they moved faster with every second. Each punch his Stand threw was countered by the maroon woman, gauntlets smashing into his Stand's fist and not even struggling to match Crazy Diamond's current speed. Haymakers, crosses, every punch Crazy Diamond threw the visor-wearing woman also threw and slammed right back into his Stands fist; more shockwaves erupted from each clash of Crazy Diamond's and the alien's fist and even blew back the rain from the sheer force.

And every time the maroon woman hit his Stand's fist, more pain and blood would erupt from his hands. He could feel the warm blood soaking his glove and the dark welts that formed on his skin; his bones felt like they were snapping every other blow.

But he still had Crazy Diamond continue to throw punch after punch. Because while the alien was stronger than his Stand, was the same true for her speed?

Crazy Diamond's arms moved even faster, and its speed only kept rising as the maroon woman matched it.

Could she move as fast as a car?

Crazy Diamond was moving so fast that gusts of wind were created every time it swung its fists; the visor-wearing alien still kept up with his Stand.

As a bullet train?

Crazy Diamond's arms were gleaming, now looking like silver and pink missiles with every unbelievably fast punch it threw. And he saw the maroon woman scowl; it was hard to see in the rain, but he knew what he saw.

Could this alien move as fast as the speed of light?

He focused on the energy within him and a purple aura surrounded his Stand. And when Crazy Diamond threw its next punch, the sound barrier broke. A noise like a fighter jet taking off—only even  _louder_ —boomed throughout the street, he was actually pushed back from the force as he heard windows cracking.

And the visor-wearing alien was struck right on the cheek, head whipping to the side; she couldn't react in time, the speed of his Stand was too much.

He smirked. And Crazy Diamond roared.

**_"DORARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARA!"_ **

Crazy Diamond smashed fist after fist into the maroon woman's body, every hit that landed made small booms echo throughout the street. Crazy Diamond was pushing its speed to the limit as his Stand slammed its silver-plated fists into every inch of the alien's body; with every hit, her body violently twisted and veered.

**_"DORA!"_ **

One last sonic punch slammed into the woman's visor, the windows around him  _shattering_ as she was sent flying backward. The afro-haired woman was like a rocket, traveling down the long, flooded street at insane speeds. Her flight eventually came to a stop once she landed back on the concrete.

However, instead of tumbling along the asphalt like he expected, the moment the alien's hair touched the ground, she almost instantly placed both of her hands on the concrete and pushed off; the maroon woman used the momentum from her flight to flip herself high into the air. He watched as the visor-wearing woman backflipped in the air—knees tucked to her chest—before she landed back on the concrete.

And when she lifted her head up to him, her cracked visor slowly broke into several shards that fell to the ground. And…it was a bit hard to see…but did she have…?

Crazy Diamond's eyes quickly became his own, his vision drastically improving in an instant. And he saw that the alien had three eyes; one eye red, another blue, and the third, centered on her forehead, was purple.

All of which were glaring at him, and the only thing within them was anger. And he doubted that those three eyes were just for appearance.

His eyes narrowed.

He thought back to how this woman, and this woman alone, was able to block his Stand's punches until they became too fast. But…he was sure that she didn't actually see Crazy Diamond. She only ever blocked his Stand's punches, and never once tried to hit Crazy Diamond back. It was like…she knew something was attacking her…but not what exactly  _it_ was.

Another boom of thunder came from the skies, followed by a bolt of lightning slamming down somewhere in the distance.

After every Stand battle he had been a part of, he had learned how to pick apart the small details of the enemy Stands and their masters and learn the little tricks that made their abilities work; and right now, he was putting those skills to work. How exactly could someone see an attack coming but not know what exactly was attack them? The wind from the punches? No, there was no way she could react in time if that were the case. Maybe she could feel it somehow? But if that was the case, then how? Damn it, what exactly was this woman doing that let her counter his Stand?

He couldn't find the answer. He needed more information about this alien's powers. So far, she had displayed a variety of abilities, more so than any Stand he had ever encountered, and that only made narrowing down how exactly she was seeing his Stand even harder.

He continued to glare at the maroon woman, thunder and lightning exploding within the dark clouds above him. And as he glared, he saw that the afro-haired woman's body had cracks in it, similar to the ones Sheer Heart Attack had gotten when he last fought the bomb. Cracks, but no blood. Cracks, almost like the ones he might see from in a rock or-.

He heard something coming from behind him.

* * *

Okay…what the hell?

Forming her body was always confusing. Like, she knew what her normal body was supposed to be like, and she remembered how each part felt and how to shape them with her gem. But, whenever she was poofed, even after having it happen to her so many times, there was always this feeling that this wasn't right. It was kinda like she didn't believe her body was actually gone; which, to be fair it wasn't, it was just…not  _physically_ there. When she was back in her gem, she could feel the… _stuff_ that  _could_ become her body; she felt it floating around and just waiting for her to do her thing, so she almost always did a doubletake when she realized that no, she hadn't formed her body yet even though she could feel it.

But this was the first time that when she formed her body back into existence, she also felt pure agony spreading throughout every part of her; even to the parts that weren't even fully formed yet.

Amethyst let out a big, long groan as the purple light covering her body faded, unlike the pain. Her forehead rested on top of her arm as it laid on the ground. Her body felt heavy, like a big weight had been placed right on top of her. She had been poofed so many times before, but this time…this time was the worst. The absolute  _worst._

But she still had to get up. So, despite the pain and heaviness surrounding her body, she pushed herself off the ground with both hands; her body was shaking with every move she made as she let out a sharp gasp even though she didn't need to breathe.

Once she stood up, she slowly opened her eyes and took in exactly where she was. It was some kind of fancy apartment; marvel floors, a big wide room and high ceiling and a bunch of other expensive looking stuff covered every inch of the apartment.

How…how exactly did she get here again?

She rubbed her head as she continued to look around the room. Something…she was supposed to be doing something right now. But what was-.

As she turned, she saw a big hole in the wall of the apartment; plaster and random debris fell from the hole and onto the clean floor, and through the hole, rainwater and strong winds entered the room.

She squinted at the hole.

Huh, weird. That hole almost looked to be in the shape of her own-.

It all came back to her. That invisible thing they fought. That bastard. Jenny.

The pain within her body suddenly spiked, and she fell to one knee.

And her being pummeled before she even realized what happened.

The sudden dizziness she felt only made her pain even worse. What the hell hit her? One second, she was being pulled towards that bastard and just as she got in front of him, she felt like a hundred of Jasper's fists had slammed into her in a second; she didn't even see him move before she was sent flying.

She let out another groan, shakily getting back to her feet.

Guy was fast, she'd give him that.  _Way_ faster than Jasper. Hell, even Garnet would have trouble matching-.

Her eyes went wide.

Shit, Garnet and Pearl were still fighting!

She shook her head before running towards the hole. Once she arrived at the hole, she stuck her head outside—rain pelting her skin and ridiculously strong winds blowing against her hair—and looked down at the street. She saw the holes in the concrete as well as the ones in several buildings and a few stores. She saw the fires that had been burning the town were now mostly extinguished. But she didn't see any sign of Garnet or Pearl or that bastard.

Shit, how long had she been out!? It didn't usually take so long to reform her body, at most it should have only taken her a few minutes since it was the first time she had been poofed in the fight. Just how long had Garnet and pearl been fighting that bastard by themselves?!

She felt worry slowly embedding itself within her, but she couldn't focus on that; not now. Not when she needed to find Garnet and Pearl now and see if they had dealt with-!

She heard a scream.

It was an incredibly loud scream, so loud that it echoed throughout the entire town. She knew that whatever made that scream was nowhere near her, but the sound she heard still made her flinch from just how  _booming_ it was.

Her head whipped in the direction it came from; at least, she thought that's where the sound came from. It was hard to tell. But she couldn't waste any more time just standing around, she had to go fight!

So, she jumped, whipping her hair. Her long white hair quickly went under her legs before wrapping around her face and then her back in a circle-like pattern. Her hair continued to wrap around her body several more times before her entire body became covered in hair.

And the moment she touched the ground, she began to roll in place. The hair covering her body began to spike up, now just as sharp as needles as she continued to roll in place. She was building up more speed with every roll, kicking up rain and stray debris as she got even faster.

And once she had built up enough speed, she moved. Her rolled-up body sped down the side of the building and onto the curb of the street in an instant; the rain made it a bit hard to steer herself, but she had done this enough times to know how to maneuver in the rain. She sped into the street, jerking her body to the right as she rolled all the way down the road.

Come on, come on. Where did that noise come from?

With a sharp turn, she entered another street. Nothing here. Another turn with her body and she was rolling down another large street. Nothing here either. Damn it, they couldn't have-.

As she turned at another intersection, she saw them. Garnet was at the opposite end of the street. And not even fifty feet ahead of her was the bastard that killed Jenny and Peridot.

She became even faster as she sped right towards him, the rain on the ground splashing high into the air. She saw the bastard's body stiffen as she got closer; he had heard her body whirling through the street. The bastard started to move, head quickly turning to face her.

But just before he completely turned his head, she veered to the right. When the bastard had finished turning, he saw nothing behind him as she sped right for a nearby building. Instantly, her ball-like body raced up the face of the building, and once she got to the top, she turned back down and the momentum made her even faster. She was moving as fast as a rocket as she sped right at the man from his side; the bastard still hadn't even turned around and was still facing behind him.

"Amethyst, wai-!"

Whatever Garnet said, she blocked it out. She focused only on the bastard as she rocketed towards him. He had finally started to turn towards her as she got closer, but the bastard was too late as she jumped from the ground and headed towards his face.

She was only a few feet away from slamming right into the bastard's face as his head continued to turn. But by the time he finished turning, he would get a face full of-.

She saw something.

Whenever she used her ball move—she should really come up with a name for it sometime—there was always a moment where she couldn't see. Just one moment where, as she spun, she'd lose sight of what was in front of her. After years of practice, that moment barely lasted longer than half-a-second, but still, in that short time, she would lose sight of what was in front of her.

Which was why as she spun through the air, there was a moment where she lost sight of the bastard. One half of a second where she didn't see the bastard as her body spun.

But in the next half-second, she saw something.

Something that hadn't been there before.

Something that stood just where the bastard had been.

Something that was…pink.

And then she felt something, something strong and incredibly hard, slam into her side as she was sent flying off course.

* * *

Josuke had almost been too late in reacting to the spinning, white ball of… _something_ heading towards him. But he had Crazy Diamond appear in front of him and slam a right hook into the ball's side; whatever that ball was made of was incredibly sharp as he felt his already bleeding hands erupt with sharp cuts.

**_"DORA!"_ **

The ball was sent flying, and when it hit the ground, it skidded along the wet road down towards the afro-haired alien. And after a few more seconds of rolling, the ball eventually came to a stop just as the maroon woman ran up to reach it; the ball then unfurled, and his eyes widened.

Because the ball was the purple one. The purple one that Crazy Diamond had punched over and over again. The purple one that his Stand had sent flying through a wall.

The person that didn't have even one injury present on her skin; she was rubbing her side as her taller friend helped her up, but that seemed to be the only source of pain she had. With Crazy Diamond's eyes, he looked over every part of her body. There were no wounds, no cracks, not even a  _bruise_ on any part of her body.

What the…how? Was that a part of her abilities? Healing?

He watched as the short alien stood back to her feet, saying something to her friend that he couldn't hear as she continued to hold her side.

Crap. If her power was healing, then that just made this fight a lot more complicated. Was the reason why she only just now reappeared because she needed all that time to heal? Could she heal others? What was the limit to her healing? Was there a limit?

Damn it, there were too many unknowns.

The maroon and the purple woman were now glaring at him.

And he glared back.

But he couldn't focus on the confusion within him; not now. He might not know how the purple alien's healing worked  _for now_ …

Purple aura enveloped Crazy Diamond.

But he would he would get his answers. One way or the other.

Without waiting another moment, Crazy Diamond moved. His Stand dug its fingers through the concrete, and the ground cracked. Crazy Diamond quickly lifted a large chunk of concrete from the street before it threw it up into the air.

And just as it came back down, the now visorless-woman shouted.

"Move Am-!"

She didn't finish as Crazy Diamond threw punch after punch into the chunk of concrete. In an instant, the chunk broke into slabs of all shapes and sizes. Slabs that were launched through the air with deadly precision as his Stand punched each and every one of them.

Slabs that headed right for the short alien at high speeds. The white-haired woman's eye went wide as she brought a hand to the purple gemstone on her chest. There was a bright purple glow, and out came the purple woman's whip. With a harsh flick of her wrist, her whip lashed out and hit several of the slabs, smashing them into dust.

But when the short alien brought back her arm for another strike with her whip, the rest of the slabs hit her. A barrage of concrete stones hit the purple woman one after the other, sending her flying off her feet as the slabs continued to pelt her. An explosion of dirt and rock erupted over the spot the white-haired woman once stood, a large black cloud now hiding her from view.

Whipping his head to the right, he saw the maroon woman charging at him; she had started to run the moment Crazy Diamond ripped out a part of the ground. She had charged in like she had expected his attack to be entirely focused on her shorter friend and not her.

His eyes narrowed as the afro-haired woman's gauntlet-covered fists once again crackled with blue electricity. Crazy Diamond quickly grabbed his jacket sleeve just as the maroon woman brought her gauntlets down to the ground; electricity jumped from her gauntlets and onto the streets.

**_"DORA!"_ **

Crazy Diamond slammed its leg onto the ground, sending both it and himself high into the air; they just avoided the sparks of electricity as the sparks passed over the spot they once stood in. The three-eyed alien stopped running when she saw him dodge her attack; she then thrust both her arms forwards and aimed them right at him as he started to come down from the air.

But whatever she was about to do, he wouldn't allow it to happen.

A bright yellow aura surrounded him and Crazy Diamond. And from behind the thick cloud of dust on the ground, he could see something equally yellow glowing. The glow grew brighter as from within the cloud, the broken slabs of concrete came flying out and headed towards the maroon woman. The slabs crossed the distance in an instant and slammed into the three-eyed alien's back, more dust erupting into the air; the afro-haired woman's eyes went wide as she was sent flying forward.

But not before her gauntlets were launched from her arms like twin missiles. Fire erupted behind the two gauntlets as they propelled through the air; however, when the slabs hit the maroon woman, her aim had been thrown off, the gauntlets now off course as they flew right towards a building about fifty feet away from him. The gauntlets exploded on impact as the top portion of the building was reduced to chunks that fell to the wet street.

He blinked.

…Rocket fists. Are you kidding-?

He heard a whirling noise. The same whirling noise he had heard before.

Still in mid-air—though he was now getting closer to the ground—he turned his head and saw the short alien back in her buzzsaw-like move, speeding through the cloud of dust and traveling down the road at high speeds. He saw her go onto the curb before quickly traveling up a nearby building, never losing speed as she somehow jumped off the building and flew right towards him.

But if she thought trying the exact same move would somehow work on him…

Crazy Diamond quickly moved in front of him as it pulled its fist back, the purple and white ball getting closer.

She would have another thing coming.

**_"DORA!"_ **

Crazy Diamond threw a punch right at the spinning alien; and the moment his Stand threw its fist, purple flames erupted around the alien.

His eyes went wide as the purple woman suddenly turned into a flaming ball; and the moment Crazy Diamond's fist punched the white-haired woman's spinning body, the flames around her exploded. A searing heat consumed him, the only thing he could see was purple as his body suddenly went flying backward—Crazy Diamond had faded out of existence. The purple quickly faded as he turned his head around, burns now present on his skin, and saw that he was seconds away from crashing on to the ground.

He quickly called back Crazy Diamond as his Stand appeared in front of him. Crazy Diamond grabbed him in a tight hug just as it hit the ground back-first. His Stand once again protected him from physically hitting the ground, but he still felt his Stand's pain as his back suddenly screamed with agony. He couldn't focus on Crazy Diamond any longer as his Stand disappeared, and he tumbled on the wet ground before stopping himself after a few moments.

He got up as quickly as he could before he looked around him. He saw the white-haired woman crash onto the ground—two identical black whips falling from her hands and scattering along the ground—as she bounced off the concrete once before landing on her stomach. There was a bruise forming on her forehead as she pushed herself off the ground, slowly.

He whipped around to see where the maroon woman went. And he saw her standing only a few feet away, another pair of gauntlets on her hands, as she threw a massive fist right towards his head.

He brought up his arm, channeling his energy as Crazy Diamond's arm overlaid with his own. The woman's massive fist slammed into his limb as a shockwave was created from the force. He felt his bones clank against his skin as he grit his teeth, and he could feel the blood that erupted on his arm from the punch. The afro-haired woman quickly launched another punch, this one coming low and aimed for his leg, and he responded by once again channeling his energy as Crazy Diamond's arm appeared behind him.

And then the limb grabbed his jacket and threw him up into the air. He jumped over the maroon woman's punch and was now right over her head; the three eyed-alien had stumbled when her punch missed, and he immediately saw his chance.

A purple aura surrounded him as Crazy Diamond came into existence, the air glittering pink. His Stand moved, speeding through the air as it slammed the bottom of its fist right into the center of the maroon woman's head.

**_"DORA!"_ **

The three-eyed alien hit the ground face-first as he heard cracking noises come from her body. As he fell back to the ground, Crazy Diamond once again struck, raising its leg high before bringing it down.

**_"DORA!"_ **

He just touched the ground next to the afro-haired woman as Crazy Diamond's heel slammed into her back. He saw even more cracks forming on her skin, and just as he would have had Crazy Diamond continue its attack, he heard a snap coming from behind him.

He whirled and saw the lashes of a whip aimed for his throat. He channeled the energy within him as his Stand disappeared for a moment before instantly reappearing just in front of the whip, bringing up its arm to block the tails as they wrapped around the length of its arm.

He watched as the purple woman's eyes widened, shocked at what she was seeing. And then he heard the crackling of electricity coming from his side as he quickly turned around. He saw the maroon woman had gotten up and was now charging at him with her electrified gauntlets, every one of her furious eyes glaring at him as she roared.

In an instant, he shot a glance at the whip around Crazy Diamond arms. It wasn't exactly thin, but it wasn't too thick either. The material might not be the best for what he was planning on doing, but…

Well…let's see if this works.

Crazy Diamond sped through the air, and the short alien was suddenly tugged forward, hitting the ground with a splash as she was dragged along the concrete by her whip. Crazy Diamond moved in front of him, and just as the three-eyed alien's gauntlet was inches away from his face, his Stand ripped apart the lashes around its arm with its other hand before it shouted.

**_"DORA!"_ **

In an instant, Crazy Diamond wrapped the torn tails around one of the maroon woman's gauntlets—tying the broken lashes in a tight not around her fist as his Stand jerked on the strand of the whip in its hand. The afro-haired woman stumbled as he stepped to the right, both fists missing him as she tried to regain her balance. The moment Crazy Diamond tied the whip around her large fist, the electricity around the maroon woman's gauntlets jumped to the knot and then to his Stand, both him and Crazy Diamond gritting their teeth as electricity fried their bodies.

But it wasn't just his and his Stand's bodies being electrocuted. For the electricity traveled down the rest of the whip as well; he saw from the corner of his eye the purple woman slowly getting back to her feet just as the electricity reached the end of her handle. Blue sparks convulsed around the short alien's body as her eyes went wide, screaming as she fell back to the ground.

"Ame-!"

The maroon woman didn't finish her panicked shout as Crazy Diamond grabbed the middle of the electrified whip—he had to suppress a scream from said action—with both hands as it pulled up, lifting the maroon woman off her feet before it spun and brought its arms down. Right towards the purple woman.

**_"DORA!"_ **

The three-eyed alien was sent flying over his head and down the street, right towards her comrade. Her gauntlets were still covered with electricity, and it still traveled down the whip towards the white-haired woman, who hadn't let go of her whip, as the sparks around her body grew even brighter.

He saw the purple woman's eyes widen even further just as the maroon woman slammed into her. The afro-haired woman's larger body obscured the smaller alien's own as they were both sent flying down the street; both of them crashed into a parked car on the curb, but while the shorter woman crashed through the front windows, the three-eyed alien bounced off the edge of the roof and hit the concrete. He watched as the maroon woman rolled uncontrollably along the concrete, the cracks on her body growing before she eventually stopped rolling.

He let out heavy, tired breaths as he stared at the unmoving women on the street. He brought his hand to his face as he coughed a few times, blood spraying from his mouth and onto his gloves. His body felt like it had been burned from the inside out, similar to what Kira did with his bombs, except this burning was less scorching then if that bastard had exploded him. The bones in his body, especially around his hands and left arm, felt cracked; it was hard to even clench his fist without wincing in pain.

He coughed again. Crazy Diamond still floated by his side as the rain seemed to come down even more than before.

Damn. These aliens were tough. Their abilities lacked any of the cohesion and unity he had seen from other Stand Users—well most of them, anyway—and each one was just as powerful as the last. They had decent tactical skills, their fighting styles were refined and deadly, and their durability was outstanding.

So, he needed to hurry up and end this fight.

Still panting, and only now really noticing just how cold it was outside, he stared at the prone alien women's bodies. Neither moved as lighting rolled around in the clouds.

And then—just as he expected—they both slowly started to move. The short woman climbed out of the car and through the broken windows as the three-eyed alien pushed off the ground with her hands. The white-haired alien moved towards the hood of the car as the afro-haired woman shakily got back to her feet.

And once the maroon and purple woman stood back up, lighting came down from the sky and hit the ground somewhere off in the distance.

He looked over both of their bodies with Crazy Diamond eyes as they glared at him. The cracks on the afro-haired woman's skin were now even deeper, and through the rain he could hear them expanding. The white-haired woman had more bruises on her skin and pieces of glasses sticking out on some of her limbs. And she still had bruises on her skin.

His eyes narrowed.

She hadn't healed herself. Even though she had done it before, she wasn't doing it now. Nor was she trying to heal her friend. Why? Could she really only heal herself? And was the reason why she wasn't doing it right now was because it took time? That seemed to be the most likely explanation, but there still could-.

"Garnet, let's fuse!"

The purple alien's shouts interrupted his thoughts. He saw the short woman looking at the three-eyed alien, who was slowly walking forward with clenched fists.

"We can't! Not right now!"

The maroon woman did not stop glaring at him as she responded, but for a moment her expression became conflictive before the look quickly vanished, anger rising within her face. Whatever "fuse" meant, he could tell that the afro-haired alien also wanted to do it, but she held herself back for some reason.

Crazy Diamond slowly floated in front of him.

Fuse. What did that mean? For a moment, he thought about the same kind of fusion from  _Dragon Ball_ , but he immediately killed that thought; he didn't have the time to make jokes. Whatever this "fuse" was, for some reason they couldn't do it right now. But they would be able to do it soon, from the sound of it.

Damn it, he seriously had to take these women out fast.

"What…what the hell is this guy's deal!"

The short woman was shouting again, confusion within her voice along with frustration.

"I…I don't know what but there's  _something-!"_

He stopped three-eyed alien—Garnet, if he heard right—from talking as he shouted.

"I'm surprised that you're still up, midget!"

The white-haired woman whirled her head back towards him, glare more fierce than before.

"What did you just-!?"

"Oh, sorry, can you not hear me from all the way down there, you walking purple  _Oompa Loompa!"_

It left a bad taste in his mouth using those words, considering one of his best friends was also a dwarf, but he needed the purple woman distracted. He needed her angry.

And seeing the fury that rose within her expression told him he absolutely succeeded thanks to his words.

"He's trying to provoke you! Don't fall for it!"

The short alien didn't seem to hear her friend's shout as she took a step forward, snarling. Good. With her now furious, she wouldn't listen to the maroon-to Garnet's words. And the less the white-haired alien knew about how Crazy Diamond worked, the easier it would be to take her-.

"You're fucking dead! You and that damn turtle you have on your head!"

He stopped thinking.

…Turtle. She called his hair a disgusting, filthy, no good  _reptile?_

His right eye began to twitch violently, lips moving into a snarl; he felt the anger that filled his eyes as a purple aura whirled around Crazy Diamond, his Stand's expression one of pure rage.

He had never met someone who was so enthusiastic about digging graves.

He sprinted forward.

"Wait, don't-!"

Garnet never finished as the short woman jumped into the air, hair wrapping around her until she was nothing more than a sharp white ball of needles. And when the ball touched the ground, the purple alien took off like  _Sonic_ , dashing through the street as her rolled-up body whirled faster by the moment.

He continued to sprint as the purple woman started to zig-zag through the street, moving in fast and irregular patterns that were impossible to keep track of with  _his_ eyes.

But with Crazy Diamond's eyes—pupils now bright blue—he could see the white-haired woman' spinning body with ease.

He suddenly stopped running as he reached a parked car, standing only a few feet away from it; his eyes darted around as he watched the short woman dash, the alien now a streak of purple and white as she ricocheted off the buildings around him, building up speed with every ricochet.

And with one last rebound off a building a good distance behind him, she came spinning right towards him at an angle. Within seconds, she would be slamming into him.

But that was more than enough time to act.

Crazy Diamond moved towards the car and grabbed the handle of the front door. His Stand then ripped the door right from the car, lifting it above its head before slamming it into the ground in front of him. Crazy Diamond had used enough strength that when it slammed the car door to the ground, the door went  _through_ the concrete and was now embedded firmly in the street.

And because of the angle Crazy Diamond had put the door on, it looked more like an improv-ramp.

A ramp that the purple alien could not move around in time as she traveled up the metal door before jetting off the top, sailing far over his head and high in the air as she came out of her ball form. He watched as she flailed through the air before she crashed through a window of one of the buildings, glass breaking on impact and falling to the ground.

He heard a roar, and he whirled around to see Garnet running towards him before she jumped high into the air. He turned his head up high as he watched Garnet pull her fist back, angling herself mid-air before gravity sent her plummeting back to the ground; Garnet now looked like a living meteorite as she headed towards him with another roar.

He had Crazy Diamond grab him by his jacket as it stomped as hard as it could on the ground.

**_"DORA!"_ **

With that shout, he was sent flying forward, and not even a moment later Garnet's fist slammed into the spot where he once stood. The ground wavered, and then deep fissures ran through the concrete as dust and large chunks of the street flew into the air; he felt the shockwaves that erupted from Garnet's punch, and when he landed he stumbled as the street shook, falling to the ground after a few more shakes. Crazy Diamond prevented him from hitting the ground as his Stand caught him by the back of his jacket, the shaking around the street ceased as Crazy Diamond helped him stand back up. He turned back to where Garnet had hit the ground and saw a crater—so deep he couldn't even see the bottom from where he stood—as thick clouds of dirt rose from the center.

And from within the crater and through the clouds of dust, the maroon alien jumped out and landed on the outer edge of the crater. Garnet had on another visor, where she got he didn't know, but even with the visor covering her face, he knew she was glaring at him.

He gave Garnet his own glare as he looked around the ruined street. He saw the fissures that now extended from one end to the other, the sewer pipes that were now exposed above ground.

He glanced to the left and saw the broken remains of the car he had once stood next to, now nothing more than broken chunks of metal. Chunks of metal that were positioned right behind Garnet.

He glanced down.

And at his feet, he saw one of the car's blue door handles.

He instantly picked up the handle with one hand. He then looked up at Garnet and grinned.

"Thank you very much."

Confusion grew within Garnet's expression. Just as a bright yellow aura surrounded the door handle in his leather gloves.

And then an equally yellow aura surrounded the broken chunks of the car before they slowly floated off the ground. The chucks of the car, as well as several other pieces of machinery, then rocketed forward. Right towards Garnet as she whirled behind her.

And he knew, even without looking at her face, that all three of her eyes were wide.

The first chunk that slammed into Garnet carried her off her feet. A second chunk soon caught up to the first and started to reconnect with the first chunk, forming the lower half of a trunk. More chunks came from below and formed the underside, and on top of that the floor. A large seat squeezed itself behind Garnet as another seat appeared right next to the first one; two more seats were soon placed right in front of Garnet. Multiple seatbelts wrapped around Garnet and the chair she sat on as she was tied to the seat by a thick black bow on her torso.

Finally, the roof came back into place at the same time the windows reassembled themselves and the car was now completely fixed; and it still rocketed forward as he watched Garnet struggle in the back seat of the car.

As the car got closer and closer to him, he let out a breath. Crazy Diamond floated next to him as it rolled its shoulders.

And just as the car was inches away from hitting him, his Stand appeared in front of him as it grabbed the hood of the car; its fingers pierced the metal with ease as Crazy Diamond easily found purchase. The yellow aura faded, and his Stand lifted the car above its head and began to swing the car around, pink muscles bulging as it spun in the air with the car held in its grasp.

Crazy Diamond continued to spin the car, slowly starting to look like a small tornado of pink and silver as it kept spinning faster by the moment.

And then Crazy Diamond let the car go with one last spin.

**_"DORA!"_ **

The car spun through the air like a discus as it soared high above the buildings, and he could see that within the car Garnet was still firmly trapped in her chair. He watched as the car continued to fly over a few more buildings before it disappeared from his sight.

And after a few moments, he heard a boom. Not the boom of lighting, but the boom of a car exploding.

He was fairly certain Garnet would survive that—considering what else she had taken and gotten up from—and was even more certain that the maroon alien would come back within a few minutes; but right now, Garnet wasn't here, which meant that right now-.

There was an explosion of brick and dust from one of the buildings to the right of him, a large hole now present in the walls as a spinning ball plowed through it with ease. The ball jumped into the air and then quickly turned back into the purple woman as she landed on the wet curb.

-He could take care of the healer without any interference.

His eyes scanned the short alien's body, and there were still bruises on her skin. She still hadn't healed herself, and that confused him. If there was some kind of time limit to her healing, why didn't she just hide and wait until she could heal her body and  _then_ come out to attack him like before? Sure, her friends were in danger, but it didn't take her that long to heal herself the first time, at most it had been eight minutes before she was fully healed. Did it take longer the more times she used her power? Did it take more concertation or-.

He let out a long breath.

Too many unknowns. Too many questions. He couldn't come up with an answer right now. He needed to just focus on defeating the purple woman as quickly as he could before either Garnet came back or before the white-haired woman used her healing or some other kind of-.

"Your hair sucks!"

What the fuck was that?

There was rage within his expression now; he could feel it rising within his face as it twisted his lips into a vicious snarl. He glared at the purple runt with eyes full of anger as he took a step forward.

"What?"

His voice was quiet, almost inaudible in the storm of rain and thunder around him. But he knew it still cut through the sound and reached the short alien's ears.

The alien who was giving him a shit-eating smirk.

"It looks like you glued a God damn steak to your ugly head!"

She figured out he got angry when his hair was insulted.

"It looks like a big old, moldy roll of bread just rolled up to your head before dying!"

And now, she was trying to get him angry. To get him to make stupid mistakes just like he had done to her just a few minutes before.

"Your hair just looks like a big fucking disappointment!"

Well, congratulations bitch…

With every damn word that left this dead woman's mouth, he felt his anger triple.

It worked. Because he was  _pissed._

He let out a roar as he charged forward. He saw the smirk on the runt's face grow as she quickly got back into her ball form before dashing forward.

However, this bitch missed one. Little. Detail. And it would cost her.

The white-haired alien was getting closer and closer to him as he sprinted faster, Crazy Diamond by his side as a yellow aura surrounded his Stand.

And when he was a few feet away from the runt, she suddenly dashed to the left and away from him. He instantly saw what her plan was; to quickly circle around him and strike him from behind while she thought he would make a sloppy attack due to his rage.

But he didn't attack; he didn't have Crazy Diamond move from his side and strike out in anger. The only thing he did was come to a complete stop the moment the purple woman made her move.

Just because he got angry, that did not mean he acted like an idiot.

The yellow glow around Crazy Diamond grew. And then an equally yellow aura surrounded a good portion of the street.

If anything, getting pissed off just made him even more efficient at kicking ass.

The portion of the road the bitch raced along began to bubble, little drops of black slowly floated up in the air. The road quickly began to look more like a sea of darkness as it swirled, little burst of black rising like tides and holding their position.

There were many parts that made up a road like this. Cement, gravel, and even dirt made up the roads most travel on. But there was one thing that he had made sure to memorize when it came to road construction. One thing that had caught his interest and made him research more facts about it.

The seal coat of the road. As in, the protective coating that covered the asphalt and acted as a sort of shield against the elements.

Coal tar.

All at once, the portion of the road that had been covered in yellow aura stopped swirling as every inky tide, every spot of black that had floated up into the air came crashing back down; the road now looked like it had been painted with a new, glossy black paint.

And the moment the thick black substance came back to the ground, slipping right underneath the purple runt in the middle of her dash, the bitch came to an abrupt stop as she flew forward before landing face first into the black tar that now covered the road. With the exception of the area he stood around.

Coal tar. One of the stickiest and most adhesives liquids known to man when it was in its natural state.

Slowly, he walked forward. He traveled along the path of road that he hadn't converted to coal tar before he reached the edge of the thick black pool that now made up a good portion of the street.

Right where the runt laid. He could see the bitch struggling to get up, lifting her head up from the coal tar and face now pitch black with viscous black strands connecting her face back to the ground. She was able to hold her head up for a few seconds before the strands forced her head to slam back into the tar.

"Hey…"

His voice was as cold as the rain falling from the skies. He glared at the purple bitch as Crazy Diamond slowly floated forward.

"Armrest…."

Was that her name? He hadn't really heard it properly when Garnet shouted it and it was somewhat hard to remember right now. Well, he didn't' really care either way.

"Just to be clear…."

He tilted his head to one side as his Stand snarled.

"What exactly did you say about my hair?"

There was thick black bubble rising a few feet away from where—he assumed—her mouth was before it popped.

"That's what I thought."

And with that, Crazy Diamond moved. His Stand flew through the air right towards the runt and grabbed her leg. Crazy Diamond then lifted her out of the tar, he saw her eyes widen in pain as the thick strands were removed, and then it slammed her onto another portion of tar.

**_"DORA!"_ **

With that roar, Crazy Diamond quickly picked the purple bitch off the ground again and then once again slammed her back onto the road, and he felt it shake from the impact.

**_"DORA!"_ **

Crazy Diamond lifted the bitch even higher into the air this time, and when his Stand slammed her into the ground, thick blobs of tar shot into the air as he heard the woman's skin crack.

**_"DORARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARA!"_ **

Crazy Diamond became a mix of purple, silver and pink as it slammed the purple woman over and over again into the ground; he could hear both the ground and the alien's skin cracking each time Crazy Diamond used the runt as its own hammer. All he could see were streaks of pink and purple as his Stand continued to crack her face against the road.

And then—as it picked the purple bitch off the floor—Crazy Diamond threw the alien high into the air.

"This time-!"

As he shouted, Crazy Diamond pulled back its fist. And both his and his Stand's glare was absolutely vicious.

"-STAY DOWN!"

Crazy Diamond quickly followed with its own roar as it threw a punch at the falling purple woman named Armrest.

**_"DORA!"_ **

He saw the runt's eyes go wide just before his Stand slammed its fist right into her mouth. And then Armrest went flying, teeth leaving her mouth like bullets as she rapidly backflipped through the air. He watched as Armrest crashed through the glass panels of a bus stop before she slammed into the building right behind it; brick and plaster shot out of the building as Armrest became firmly embedded within the wall.

He let out long and heavy breaths, staring at Armrest's seemingly unconscious body. He didn't even blink as he watched Armrest, expecting her to somehow teleport away like her ivory friend had or perhaps to get back up as she finally healed herself.

But Armrest did not move. She just stayed motionless in the wall.

He looked around at the ground. At the cracks that were now everywhere. At the tar that now had pieces of ripped clothing and what looked like purple skin on it; though, the "skin" looked more like finely refined paper instead of actual flesh. Crazy Diamond had used its full strength on the short woman.

He frowned.

His Stand hadn't held back in the slightest.

He then looked back at Armrest. He saw the deep cracks on her body that were still growing; the way she didn't even twitch in her spot on the wall.

And the way he didn't see with Crazy Diamond's eyes even the slightest indication her chest was rising. Like she wasn't even  _breathing._

His eyes went wide as he had Crazy Diamond grab his jacket before it slammed its foot into the ground. They went flying over the road and the tar before landing just a few feet away from Armrest. Crazy Diamond quickly—yet gently—removed her from the wall and placed her down and the curb.

He crouched down and checked for a pulse.

There was none.

He felt his breath catch in his throat as his body went cold.

Shit! He went too far; way,  _way_ too far! He wasn't used to fighting people who didn't bleed so he had no idea how much damage they could take before-!

He gnashed his teeth together.

Damn it, he let his anger get the better of him and made him do something-!

There was a glow. A bright purple glow coming from Armrest. He looked down and saw that the gem near her chest was releasing a bright purple light, and it slowly began to engulf her entire body. In a few seconds, he quickly found himself staring at the glowing outline of Armrest's body.

And then there was a large explosion of purple dust. He inhaled some of the dust as he coughed, both his and Crazy Diamond's hands trying to wave away the dust as quickly as they could. Within a few seconds, the dust cleared as he looked down.

And Armrest was gone. The only thing left in her place was the purple gem that was above her chest.

He blinked, one hand reaching forwards as he slowly picked up the purple gem. He brought the gem up to his face as he stared, Crazy Diamond only a few feet away from him with a confused expression on its face.

Did…did she teleport? But then…why was her gem here?

His eyes narrowed. He thought back to the beginning of the fight, where Armrest had disappeared once Crazy Diamond punched her through the wall. And then he thought back to the peach-haired alien, who had also disappeared an instant after she had been slammed through a wall.

There was something here.

In his mind, he could see Armrest completely healed again.

Something he was missing.

He could see Armrest pulling out her whip from within her purple Gem. And then he thought back to Garnet, where her own gems glowed with the same light just before they were covered in her gauntlets.

Something…something that could help him-.

"Let her go!"

When he heard that furious voice, he instantly turned around.

And he saw the ivory woman. The ivory woman who swung her spear right towards his wrist in a hissing arc of white. Crazy Diamond instantly pushed him to the side with one arm as it used the other to block the spear.

The peach-haired alien's eyes went wide.

"Wha-!?"

**_"DORA!"_ **

Crazy Diamond smashed its fist right into the ivory alien's pointy nose, and she was sent flying. He watched as her body spiraled through the air, but when she landed back on the concrete, she went into a roll, pushing off the ground with her hands and using her momentum to spring back to her feet.

And when the pointy-nosed woman landed, she snarled at him.

"Let. Her. GO!"

He had no idea as to why the ivory alien was so angry at him. Or why the hell she was ordering him to let this "her" go when the only thing he had on him was-.

He glanced at that the purple gem in his hands.

-The gem.

His eyes widened. And as the woman charged at him through the rain, he realized what he was missing. He realized the answer that had been staring him in the face since the fight began.

No, the thing he should have realized before the fight even started.

_Gems?_

_That's the name of their race._

He could hear Greg's words as his eyes looked up to the large gem on the peach haired woman's face.

These aliens…they were rock people! How Armrest healed herself, how this ivory alien healed herself, was because of an ability every member their race had. The ability to go back into their gems.

The pointy-nosed woman took another step forward, a splash erupting underneath her foot.

That thing he had seen back when the ivory alien went through the wall wasn't some egg, but the gem on her forehead! It most have been because of all the damage she took; when the peach-haired woman reached a point where she just couldn't continue fighting, she would go back into her gem to rest and recover!

His eyes darted to the purple gem in his hands.

It explained why Armrest didn't just heal herself after he injured her again or why none of the others did the same. Because when they did recover, they were helpless. They couldn't move or fight back or do anything. Most likely the only thing they could do was sit and wait before they were healed and could come out again.

There was another splash as the ivory woman got closer.

But now what could he do with the gem in his hand? He essentially had Armrest cornered now and there was nothing she could do defend herself. But she didn't have an actual body he could injure, only her gem. And it would only be a matter of time before she could get back up and join the fight again; he had no idea how many times they could go back into their gems to heal, which meant that as the fight progressed and he grew more tired, these aliens could just heal themselves and continue.

Another splash.

He had to do something to prevent that. It was obvious by the ivory woman's expression that Armrest could still be hurt, even in this state. So, what would happen if he had Crazy Diamond crack the gem a little? Would that make it harder for her to heal or would it stop her healing all together?

What would happen if he shattered the gem in his hand?

He shot a glance at the sprinting ivory alien. And then he looked back at the gem in his hands. He channeled his energy, and Crazy Diamond's limbs overlaid with his own.

He then started to squeeze the purple gem with his fingers.

And then he stood up, got into his best pitcher's stance, and shouted.

"You want her!? Take her!"

Like Hideo Nomo, he threw the gem overhand like a fastball. The gem spiraled through the air as the ivory woman's eyes widened, just before the gem reached her and beamed the alien right in the center of her oval-shaped gem; the peach-haired woman's head went reeling back as she screamed.

He couldn't take any chances. For all he knew, shattering the gem might just kill Armrest. Unless he figured out something that told him otherwise, he couldn't risk attacking any of the aliens when they were recovering.

As the ivory woman dropped her spear as she brought both hands over her gem, he watched as the purple gem that was Armrest hit the ground as it bounced along the wet streets. And then it bounced right through the cracks of a storm drain.

Huh. He guessed that was one way to deal with his problem.

"Oh no, Ameth-!"

The ivory alien turned away from him as she shouted, panic within her eyes.

He saw his chance, and he took it. Crazy Diamond grabbed his jacket and then stomped on the ground.

**_"DORA!"_ **

They went flying towards the ivory woman, who whirled around as her eyes widened. She still hadn't picked up her weapon, and now that they were so close, there was no way she could react in time.

Crazy Diamond pulled back its fist as they were only few feet away from colliding with the peach-haired alien. And then, from the corner of his eye, he saw something. He turned his head to the right, and his eyes widened.

For a car was flying right towards him, to close to have Crazy Diamond try and punch it away. He acted quickly, Crazy Diamond disappearing from reality for a second and then instantly reappeared right in front of the path of the car, arms crossed.

The car slammed into Crazy Diamond, and he could feel metal scraping against his arms as he let out a painful shout; the car almost immediately crashed back to the ground after it hit his Stand. He was sent flying, careening through the air until he landed on the concrete with his injured back. He shouted again as he tumbled uncontrollably through the street.

When he stopped tumbling, he quickly pushed himself off the ground. His legs wobbled as he tried to stand back up, but he managed. And once he was back on his feet, he looked up.

And he saw Garnet slowly walking towards the ivory woman. There were even more cracks in her body and she now walked with a limp, her visor just as cracked as the rest of her. When Garnet reached her friend, she slowly turned her head towards the ivory woman.

And while they were too far away for him to hear—the only things he could really hear right now were the heavy rain and thunder—he was able to read her lips with Crazy Diamond's eyes.

He had made out the words, "we can fuse now." And the moment Garnet said that, the peach-haired alien's eyes went wide. A second later, she turned her head and narrowed her eyes at him. She then turned back to face Garnet and nodded her head.

And then…they started to dance?

Well, that was what it looked like anyway. The ivory woman began to shimmy, arms held at her side, while Garnet began to move her arms in circular motions from behind her comrade—palms facing out and body rotating in unison with her hand motions.

He did not know why exactly they were dancing, but he sure as hell wasn't gonna let it continue. He had learned that when his opponents did something strange that didn't seem to make sense, it was most likely some kind of move that could very well end him.

Crazy Diamond dug its fingers through the concrete and picked up another chunk of the street; his Stand then lifted the chunk above his head before throwing it forward.

**_"DORA!"_ **

The chunk went flying towards the two aliens who were still dancing. And even as the large chunk of ground got closer, Garnet and the ivory woman still continued to dance.

He saw a glow beginning to emit from the two as they stepped closer to the other; a large, white glow that grew brighter with every second. The chunk was almost at the two aliens.

The glow got brighter, a white light soon shining from amidst the rain.

And then the chunk hit them. Dust and dirt erupted into the air and obscured his view of the two aliens. For several moments, nothing happened as he stared at the cloud of dirt covering the street.

And then, he saw the white glow again.

And it got bigger.

And bigger.

And  _even bigger._

His eyes were wide as he lifted his head up to stare at the  _giant glowing thing_  that towered over the buildings. A thing that was in the general outline of a  _person._

He was frozen in the rain as his eyes kept getting wider. And then he spoke.

"Are you fucking kidding me?!"

* * *

So much pain.

Stevonnie continued to scream as they rolled on the ground.

So much pain. So much  _agony._

Their screams only got louder with every second. Their body convulsed uncontrollably, limbs twisting and back arching, everything felt hot and scorching. The only relief from the burning was the blood and rain that dripped down their skin. But that only helped so much. They could taste ash in their mouth as they coughed thick globs of blood, those moments were the only ones where they weren't screaming.

"I'm sure you're wondering what just happened."

Kira's emotionless voice still reached them through all the pain. They couldn't see him, their vision went from thick whiteness back to clarity far to quickly to make out anything, but that didn't matter. They knew he had a cruel smile on as he looked at them with his horrible purple eyes.

And they knew that  _monster_ was staring at them with its pink—far, far to pink—eyes as they continued to scream.

"Well, to put in terms you children will understand, my Killer Queen turned you into a bomb. And then, I blew you up."

Lion roared from somewhere. Where was he? They needed their friend. They were helpless right-.

Even more intense pain erupted near their stomach as their screams became even more high pitched, blood spraying from their mouths.

"Now, now, you mangy animal. I'll get to you in a moment."

Lion roared again, but this time it was interrupted. A sound like a cannon going off blared through the rain and thunder and was quickly followed by what sounded like trees falling down.

They continued to scream. For a moment, they could see Kira and that monster slowly walking forward before everything went back to white.

"It must be awful that you can't heal yourself, isn't it Universe?"

Even through the rain and their screams, they heard him chuckle; thunder boomed throughout the sky.

"Just like  _his_ healing, but that's about the only similarity. You're nowhere near the man  _he_  is."

They could feel the malice Kira leaked; it slithered through the air and wrapped around their skin. They needed to get up. To move, to  _run_ and get out of here. But the pain…it was too much! Every convulsion and twitch they made was absolute torture and no matter what they tried they couldn't control their body even slightly. There was no way to get up. No way to run.

"Come now Universe, Maheswaran. Even the midget didn't scream this much."

They wanted to be angry. They wanted to be stronger than their pain and get right back up and attack. They wanted to fight.

They didn't want to be terrified.

Their screams grew louder, limbs convulsing and in the process their fingers brushed along the gem in their stomach. They felt cracks in the gem.

Cracks.

Through the whiteness, they found themselves staring at almost every corrupted Gem they ever faced.

No.

They stared at Jasper as she began to corrupt.

No!

And then all they could see was Peridot, cracks everywhere on her body and tears, in her eyes, just before she exploded.

NO!

They rolled around on the ground again, still screaming as the whiteness faded from their vision.

And they saw Kira staring down at them, the monster floating right by his side. His smile was even worse than they imagined.

"Did you honestly think you could win? Two children dressed up as an adult? Please. I've known plants deadlier than you."

His eyes looked down at their stomach. At their gem.

"Oh my, that looks quite painful. Maybe not as cracked as that midget's but-."

Whatever else he said they didn't hear as they screamed. Something…something was wrong. Something hurt. Not just the agony in their body, but something…deeper. But what-?

They realized something. Steven and Connie hadn't said anything since the explosion. They focused on the world within them, the realm where the two people who made them existed. They clenched their eyes shut for a few seconds, somehow keeping themselves from screaming as the pain became just a bit manageable.

And when they opened them, they saw purple. And then they saw something that shouldn't be possible.

They saw that world within them was crumbling.

The blue tiles that made up every inch of the world and had extended for who knows how long were falling apart. The ground cracked as they saw tile by tale fall into pitch black nothingness that had not been there before, their world now seemed to float above an abyss. The blue sky was actually  _cracked_ as the same purple gas they had seen around Kira began to leak from it and float down to the ground; they saw the gas slowly swirling around what was left of the ground, a circular wall of purple surrounding them as it continued to rise with every second and moved even closer towards them.

And then there was Steven and Connie.

The two people who made up her very being were  _bleeding._ Bright red blood spilled from cuts and gashes all over their bodies, their clothes torn and exposing burned skin and they could hear their friends making agonizing groaning sounds every other second.

How? This wasn't…possible. They were in an entirely different world, why did they feel the explosion too? Steven and Connie did share their pain, yes, but never like this. They could feel every punch they received, but the actual strength of the blow would always feel so much weaker to them.

But here they were, lying in a pool of their own blood with agony-ridden expressions.

They had to do something. They had to...to help them now! The tiles kept crumbling and falling into the abyss, and if nothing were done they…they…

They didn't want to find out.

"St-st-st-Steven!"

Their voice was raspy and weak, it hurt just to say that one word. They saw Steven rolling around as he continued to let out that horrible sound from his mouth. And with one more roll, he was now facing them, a large streak of blood now leaking down his face as he stared.

"Tr-tr-try and he-heal Co-Connie!"

If…if Steven could heal Connie, then maybe some of the damage to their world would be reduced. But they weren't sure if Steven actually understood what they said. Steven had a dazed look in his eyes even as he stared at them. More tiles continued to fall down into the abyss.

"He-heal Conn-!"

They never finished as something slammed into their gem. They screamed again as the world changed from blue to grey. They found themselves staring up at a grey sky.

And also Kira and his monster, who both had their feet on their gem.

"Are you even listening right now?"

They put more pressure on their gem and they screamed even louder.

"I have no idea what exactly it was you just whispered, but it's still rude to talk when someone else is trying to  _educate you."_

They hated how just the slightest bit of anger that rose in his voice was enough to make them shiver. They didn't want to be afraid, they tried so hard to stay strong but…but…

The monster and the murderer kept staring at them. Hollow and empty pink eyes worked alongside cruel and malicious purple to let them know one thing; that they were trapped and helpless against them.

They were absolutely terrified about what these two would do them. They were alone, Lion off who knows where and they hadn't told the other Gems where they were going so there was no chance of getting backup. No chance of getting saved.

No, no...they…they didn't want to-.

"Though, I suppose it doesn't matter."

Kira's cold words brought them out of their thoughts. And the next thing they knew, they felt something grab their throat as they were lifted into the air.

They found themselves being held up by the pink monster with one arm; the only reason they didn't scream was that their throat suddenly felt crushed. And Kira stood by the monster's side as he glared at them with cold, unfeeling eyes.

"Now, normally I'd just blow you up like everyone else; but right now, I feel like you owe me for all the times I had to put up with your nonsense, Universe."

He smiled that horrible, inhuman smile as they saw the pink monster lift its other hand up.

"So, for now, you're going to entertain me with those lovely screams of yours."

The grip on their throat grew tighter. They never had to breathe  _as much as_ other humans, but they still needed air.

"And, when I'm bored, you'll give me one more oh so delightful scream."

Somehow the cruelty grew. Somehow, the man's smile became even more sadistic and pierced their already terrified body, making every part of them ice cold as their heart hammered against their chest.

"So, Universe, you and Maheswaran can pray to God if you want…"

The pink monster brought its leather gloved hand towards their left eye.

"Though, I don't think it'll matter if you pray, considering that you both are about to go straight to hell."

His smile now stretched to the ends of his face.

They tried to struggle; they tried to move, but they couldn't. Their body was locked both from pain and pure, unmitigated horror. They were going to die. They were going to die. They never thought it would end like this. They never thought they somehow meet a man who was ten times scarier than anything they could ever dream of.

Their eyes were wide as saucers as the monster kept inching its sharp, claw-like hands forward.

Anyone, someone help! Please!

Their fear kept rising, twisting every part of them and slowly destroying whatever was left of their hope. And it just kept getting stronger as Kira started to laugh; a cruel, absolutely horrible laugh that was just as inhuman as the rest of him.

Help!

"Now then, why don't we get-."

The rain stopped.

It didn't lessen, it didn't slowly clear up, it just stopped. Without any warning, the heavy downpour came to a complete stop.

They saw Kira look around, confused. Slowly, he turned his head up.

And then he stiffened. For a moment, he didn't move a muscle. And then, he spoke.

"Are you fucking kidding me?"

It was the first time Kira's voice sounded stressed. They quickly followed his gaze as they looked up.

And above in the sky, they saw a massive layer of water covering a large portion of the storm clouds. They could see the rain from the sky pelting the layer of water, sending ripples throughout the massive body of liquid and making it bigger with every second.

And just underneath the layer, they could see something. It looked like...a person.

Their eyes went wide.

And the moment they did, a torrent of water shot from the layer of liquid and headed right for them. As the torrent got closer and closer to the ground, it began to shift and change form. The torrent's body became slimmer, the head changing shape and appearance, and within a few seconds they found themselves staring at the same water dragon they had seen just a few weeks ago.

"Damn it!"

The monster let go of them, they fell to the ground with a shout, and grabbed onto Kira's jacket. The monster then slammed its foot onto the ground, and the force was enough to send them flying away. And both Kira and the monster just dodged the dragon as it slammed into the spot they had once been.

A massive tidal wave erupted and swept over the ground. Their body was submerged by the wave and carried them; they careened through the water as the waved pushed backward. After a few seconds, the wave crashed onto the ground with them along with it, and they hit the wet dirt hard as they tumbled underneath the wave. And as the wave receded, they let out a gasp the moment their body wasn't underwater as their pain grew worse. Within seconds they let out another scream as they stopped tumbling.

But…but at least they were away from that monster and the murderer.

They quickly got control of their screaming as they slowly tried to sit up, eyes still closed. But the pain was too much as they fell back to the ground with a painful cry. The wave only seemed to have made their injuries-.

"Sorry."

Their eyes shot open and went wide when they heard that voice.

"I saw what that guy was doing to you and…I just acted. Should've done...something different."

They turned their head to the right. And they saw Lapis, crouching down next to them.

And she looked awful. There were deep, dark rings under eyes, her hair messier and dirtier than they had ever seen. And when they stared into Lapis' eyes all they could see was exhaustion. She just looked so…damaged.

Why was she even here? Where had she been?

"I…where are the others? Are they dealing with whatever's going on in the town?"

The…the town?

"Wha-what's wrong with the-?"

There was a cracking sound, and then they screamed. Their stomach hurt so much!

Worry consumed Lapis expression as her eyes went wide—and at least now there was something there instead of just exhaustion.

"Steven!"

They suddenly saw that murderer's face.

"Stevonnie!"

They didn't mean to snap at Lapis, but…they had enough of being called someone they weren't. Even through the pain, they still gave Lapis the best glare they could manage given their injuries.

"Ri-right. Sorry."

Lapis looked down at their gem.

"Can't you heal yourself?"

They groaned before responding.

"Steven's…Steven's healing spit can't heal his own injuries. S-so I can't heal my own injuries."

Lapis eyes frantically looked them over.

"Fuck…what the hell happened here?"

Lapis turned around; and they followed Lapis' gaze and saw Kira and his monster slowly getting up several hundred feet away near a shattered tree, his expression rising with anger.

"Who is he?"

They coughed blood. They let out several wheezes before they spoke.

"He's…he's the guy who…who's been kidnapping everyone."

Lapis suddenly froze, eyes wide.

They coughed again.

"He-he's the one that's been…that's been responsible for…everything!"

Another cough as more blood left their lips.

"He's the one that-."

"Killed Peridot."

They looked up and saw Lapis expression had become…empty.

"That's the guy? That guy right their?"

Lapis pointed a finger at Kira, and her voice was somehow even more hollow then her expression.

And they suddenly felt…cornered

"That guy?"

It wasn't just the fact that everything around them suddenly seemed to get cold—even more so than a second ago. It wasn't just the fact that droplets of water suddenly appeared literally out of thin air as they flew towards the sky and joined the massive body of water above.

It was the fact that the entire forest now seemed to cling with  _something_  that made them feel like they were trapped.

_"That guy?"_

Lapis was snarling. And Kira looked nervous as he took a step back, it was the first time they had ever seen him look like that.

_"_ THAT BASTARD!?"

It was only now that they realized what was clinging to the air.

Pure, icy rage. The same immense fury that blazed throughout every inch of Lapis' expression. Every bit of hatred within her leaked into the forest; they  _felt_ Lapis' anger slowly building up like a monsoon around them, and with one look at Kira, they knew the murderer could feel her rage as well.

"You…"

Lapis' voice was low, but it rumbled like thunder. They could see her eyes were  _murderous_ as she glared at Kira. A part of them had thought that the Lapis they had seen two weeks ago was scary. And that part of them was right.

But the Lapis in front of them now—the one whose expression was full of hatred and whose eyes promised retribution—was absolutely  _menacing_.

_**"You're fucking dead."** _

Lapis clenched both of her hands. And up above the sky, the body of water began to change. Five tendrils of water extended from the main body and began to shift and ripple, looking more like fingers with every second. But then, the tendrils became jagged and knife-like and began to glimmer. The main body quickly shifted as well, now looking like a palm and wrist.

Lapis hadn't made her giant water hand.

Instead, she made a giant water  _claw._

And then, Lapis rose both of her arms and brought them down with a roar.

And the claw flew down.

_To Be Continued~_


	16. Counterstrike

This situation had just gotten so much shittier.

Josuke was currently thinking that perhaps Kira wasn't the biggest threat in this town. It should be ridiculous to think like that; Kira was one of the strongest Stand Users he knew, the bastard using his Stand's abilities in the most lethal ways possible. Kira could literally explode a man with just a touch. What could be more dangerous than that?

Even with the rain pouring from the sky, he still felt cold sweat descending down his face as he took a step back; Crazy Diamond eyes were just as wide as his own.

Well, he felt it was safe to say that he  _might_ have just found something that was an even bigger threat to him than Kira.

He couldn't stop staring, no matter what he tried his eyes couldn't look away from what they saw; he couldn't even blink.

Because he was pretty sure that a  _giant fucking alien_ was more of a threat than Kira.

"Ohohohoho!"

That joyful laugh boomed throughout the street, maybe even the town. But even though it was so loud, the laugh wasn't grating; somehow, it was pleasant when it had no right to sound like that. Even though it was in a life and death battle, the giant was laughing like she—because both her voice and appearance were unmistakably female—didn't have a care in the world.

"Oh my, it has been a while hasn't it?"

He could do nothing but stare at the giant's black tuxedo that looked like a second skin and her orange bowtie, just below it was a black star near the center of her chest. He stared at the white, elbow-length gloves that covered two of her  _four arms_ ; two sprouting from the upper parts of her torso on both sides and another two on the lower parts. And he continued to stare with an open jaw at her reddish-orange skin—what shade exactly he couldn't tell—and her triangle-shaped yellow hair.

"And I'm not just talking about you two fusing and allowing me to take center stage. Oh no, no, no."

The giant placed her lower pair of arms on her hips as she slowly moved the upper pair higher into the air.

"I'm talking about being let out to rumble! To put up my dukes and go berserk; and from the look of things, I'm up against someone with a little more oomph than a few Rubies."

The massive alien suddenly thrust her hands forwards; and it was only now that he noticed that her upper arms also had gloves, just ones that only covered her middle finger and about half of her forearm.

He also saw bright orange gems embedded in the center of her palms.

"I have to say, I almost missed going mano-a-mano with people who could actually make my oh-so-gorgeous assistants sweat; not literally, of course. Because, while I do love to entertain…"

From within the gems, a bright light began to glow. The light quickly grew and enveloped the giant alien's palm before it suddenly vanished and a pair of gauntlets, similar to Garnet's except a dozen times bigger, appeared on her hands. She then slammed her fist together, a smaller boom than before echoed through the street, and her gauntlets became locked together by the knuckles.

"Fighting-!"

With that giddy scream, an arm from her second pair of limbs moved towards her forehead; and it was only now that he realized the oval-shaped orange gem there. Another white glow came from her forehead as her hand now rested on top of her gem, and from within the light, she pulled out the peach-haired alien's blue spear, except it was much bigger than before.

"Is something I undeniably enjoy!"

The tuxedo-clad giant raised her spear before thrusting it down towards her locked gauntlets, and the moment the tip of the spear touch the purple gloves, a light brighter than any he had seen before lit up the rainy street. The blinding glow was so intense he had to bring his arm up to protect his eyes.

Once the light faded, he brought his arm down. And his jaw hit the floor.

Because the massive alien now held a  _giant war hammer_ behind her shoulders with two of her hands. It almost looked like a toy, with a long, slender black handle that had a yellow star at the tip and an enormous maroon fist that was twice as big as the alien's head near the top—connected together by some kind of purple rectangle at the tip of the rod.

"Really, I'm a touch miffed you girls don't use me more when you're struggling against Gems like this. I know I'm a showstopper, but I'll always give my wonderful ladies plus small child their time to shine."

The giant pushed up on the round, red and translucent visor on her face, giving her eyes—all  _four of them_ —a crimson tint.

…Okay this was just fucking  _ridiculous!_

He continued to stare with an open mouth and wide eyes.

No, seriously, what the hell!? He had fought against a rat, a giant steel tower, a living embodiment of electricity, a tiny army of soldiers, a damn cat monster that could explode people and none of them were anywhere near as ridiculous as a god damn hundred feet tall alien who had an equally massive war hammer!

He could do nothing but watch as the giant's lips moved into a wide smile as she stared down at him.

What in the hell were these aliens' deal! How could they do something like… _this!_  That damn  _Dragon Ball_  thought from before was a joke! A giant woman suddenly coming into existence through dancing shouldn't be possible! This was just…just…

Bullshit. Absolute bullshit.

His jaw was still hitting the floor as he stared. Crazy Diamond matched his shocked expression as his Stand floated back to the ground and landed right next to him. The massive alien smile stretched even further as she let out another laugh.

"Ohohoho! Well, I must admit, it's been a while since I've left anyone speechless! Really, it would be very flattering if, oh, well…"

She trailed off. And her smile turned into a large frown; the joy and cheer within her eyes was gone as her expression became grim. The giant's easy-going stance had changed in almost an instant as he saw entire body tense.

"You didn't kill my friend, hurt my home, traumatize  _my_  Steven and also kidnap so many innocent people that I have honestly lost count at this point."

The giant slowly moved the war hammer from her shoulders with her upper pair of arms and held it by her side, the orange fist almost touching the ground.

"So, I've just got one question for ya, bub."

The words that left the massive alien's mouth were just as cold the look in her eyes. There was no trace of the cheerful, almost showman-like alien he had seen just a few seconds before. Now, he was staring at a determined, fierce warrior.

"Are you ready to get squashed?"

A warrior that was ready to crush him like a fly.

His lips moved into a deep frown. Crap…how the hell was he going to get out of this?

He took a step back, eyes darting everywhere around the destroyed street, trying to see if there was anything he could use. But so far, he saw nothing that could actually help him. Come on, think! He had to come up with a plan now.

He looked back at the giant and glared at her.

"What the fuck are you!?"

The moment he finished shouting, the alien's four eyes narrowed.

"Firstly, language. I prefer to keep things as child-friendly as I can."

As the giant spoke, her voice becoming even more frigid, hHe felt immensely glad that the alien was actually responding to him as mind worked at high speeds to try and think of a plan.

"Second, I'm not a  _what_ , I'm a who. The lovely Sardonyx is my name, and you best remember that, bub."

Fighting was out; for now, anyway. He needed to regroup and think of a new strategy. But how could he escape? He wasn't sure exactly how strong or fast the giant was, but the fact that she could hold a hammer almost as massive as herself told him just how powerful his new opponent was. So, he needed to find some way to escape quickly, or else the giant would just take a few steps or jumps and cut off his escape before crushing him with her hammer.

His eyes darted around the destroyed street. He saw the fissures made from their fight—they seemed to have gotten even bigger now—and the various pipes that had been unearthed as a result. The buildings that were now covered in holes or were still bathed with small flames both inside or outside them, smoke rising towards the sparking grey clouds.

But there was one building that caught his eye. The building looked like a house, the blue painted walls that made up its face now crumbling bit by bit. And through a cracked window near at the bottom, he could see inside the house. With Crazy Diamond's vision, he could see the large living room and rug. The flat-screen TV that hung from one of the walls.

And he saw the large hole on the rightmost wall that led outside and right onto a curb with a manhole cover only a few feet away.

His eyes narrowed.

He found his escape route. All he had to do now was get away from the giant, four-armed alien who looked like she could crush a building with her shoe.

Easy.

"And before I poof ya-."

He saw the massive alien's fingers tighten around her war hammer. He needed to move; now. He had his escape route, now all he had to do was figure out a way to ensure the alien wouldn't crush him before he got to the manhole cover. Throwing another boulder at the giant might not be enough to distract her if she was as fast as he thought she was, so what else could he do?

"-why don't you tell me what exactly you did-."

His eyes once again darted around, and they locked onto one of the massive cracks in the streets. And peeking out from underneath the crack was a large, grey sewer pipe; a sewer pipe that was also littered with cracks, brown liquid spilling from within the chinks and onto the street. And it was almost right underneath the alien.

He looked down at the street. At the running flood of water that was now just a little bit above his ankles.

Okay…he could work with this.

"-to the humans here and  _maybe_ I won't-."

In an instant, a purple aura was around him. And in an instant, Crazy Diamond moved, flying towards the ground and plunging one hand into the running water. His Stand then quickly brought its arm up into the air, moving so fast that the water dripping down its fingers was suddenly launched forward, compressing together into a half-crescent blade.

"What the -!?"

He saw the giants four eyes go wide as the arc of pressurized water headed right for the exposed sewer pipe and slamming into one of the cracks near its top. And the moment the water blade crashed into the pipe, the cracks expanded with audible sounds of metal grinding together.

And then, in less than a second, a geyser of brown "water" shot up into the air and hit the massive alien—just as she was looking down—right in her face. The giant woman shouted in both disgust and shock, stepping away from the geyser as her three of her arms—one still holding onto her war hammer—went to her face and attempted to clean her now filthy visor.

" _ **DORA!"**_

With an echoing shout, Crazy Diamond moved back towards him and grabbed the shoulder of his jacket; his Stand then slammed its legs onto the flooded concrete, and the force from its stomp sent them flying through the air.

Right towards the cracked window he had just been peering through, arms crossed in front of his face. And the moment he crashed through the window, shards of glass erupted everywhere in his sight as he hit the carpeted floor in a tumble. Getting up as quickly as he could, and while holding back a hiss of pain, Crazy Diamond once again grabbed his jacket and slammed its leg onto the floor. The wood shattered on contact beneath the carpet as both he and his Stand were sent flying towards the large hole in the opposite wall.

And as he soared towards the hole, he heard a sound. At first, it was like a pebble bouncing above the ceiling, almost inaudible. But in an instant, the sound became deafening, the pebble now a boulder and crashing down.

He looked up. And in half a second, he watched as the ceiling above him—the ceiling that had been perfectly fine and unblemished—cracked into a thousand pieces of debris. And within the debris, he saw a massive orange fist plummeting right towards him.

His eyes went wide.

"Shi-!"

He didn't finish as the fist just missed him, hitting the spot he had just flown over and slamming into the floor. But the shockwaves from the impact slammed into him midflight and caused him to soar even faster than before as he coughed blood; though, because of his new speed his was able to avoid hitting any of the falling debris. He flew right out of the hole, going right over the curb and manhole, and was about to crash headfirst onto the new street.

But Crazy Diamond acted in an instant, appearing in front of him before grabbing and pulling him into its chest; his Stand taking most of the impact with its back as they crashed onto the street. But he still felt Crazy Diamond's pain as he screamed, his own back erupting with pain, as his Stand disappeared from existence before he skidded along the road.

And when he stopped skidding—jacket soaked with blood and water as he slowly pushed off the ground—he saw the remains of the building he had just been in and the hammer that had crushed it; there was nothing left of the building now, only rubble and a deep, fist-shaped imprint on the curb.

That was…it hadn't even been a few seconds and the giant had not only figured out where he went, but also moved so fast that she crushed a building almost instantly.

He needed to get up, now. He had to get the hell out of here before the tuxedo-clad giant-.

"Gotcha!"

In the time it took him to blink, the massive alien lifted her hammer off of the building's remains. He saw the giant, legs apart and planted firmly in two separate streets, holding her hammer above her head as her four eyes glared at him.

His eyes widened.

Oh, fuck.

With a bellowing war cry, the giant swung her hammer down towards him; the maroon fists came down so quickly that high-speed winds slammed into him.

Within less than a second, he channeled the energy within him, and Crazy Diamond glimmered into existence right next to him. His Stand grabbed him by the back of his jacket and slammed its leg into the concrete.

" _ **DORA!"**_

Both he and Crazy Diamond were sent flying backward over the road as the rain from above pelted him at high speeds. But despite how much strength Crazy Diamond used, despite how fast both he and his Stand were flying, it wasn't enough to completely avoid the giant's attack.

Because when the alien's massive war hammer  _crushed_ the road below it, an explosion of dust erupted throughout the street, followed by intense shockwaves that sent large chunks of the road flying high into the air.

And through the dust, through the shockwaves that slammed into his already injured body, he saw one such chunk—a long piece of a broken pipe shaped like a javelin—heading right for his chest.

* * *

Stevonnie watched from the ground as the water claw came down faster by the second; the wind roaring around it as well as the rain that was now free to plummet to the ground. They watched as Lapis continued to scream—hearing so many emotions in their friend's voice.

They watched as Kira's monster moved. It sped through the air towards the ground, thrusting its hand right into the wet mud and dirt. In less than a second, the monster's hand sliced through the ground in a circular motion before it picked up a large, baseball-shaped mound of dirt and grass in its hand. The cat-like monster then pulled its arm back before flinging it overhand, the ball flying from its leather glove and right towards the water claw, just as it was starting to crush the top parts of the trees in its way.

The ball made contact right at the center of the water claws palm, barely causing even a ripple on the claw. And the moment it did, Kira's monster lifted its left thumb up before bringing it down.

And then a massive explosion erupted from the spot the dirtball had hit; there was no sound from the explosion, only plumes of fire and smoke. The explosion wasn't enough to completely consume the giant claw, but it did cause the claw to slow down, gallons worth of water falling from its body and crashing to the ground along with the rain.

"What!?"

They didn't turn around when Lapis shouted, but they could still see her shocked expression. Their eyes were locked onto Kira and the monster as the pink-skinned creature picked up Kira by the front of his jacket before slamming its leg into the ground. The monster had used enough strength in its kick to send the both of them flying forward, getting closer towards the water claw as it approached the ground. But, why would they want to-?

As the smoke and fire began to clear away from the water hand—thick trails of steam now blowing behind it—they saw there was a large hole in the palm of the water hand. And as Kira landed back on the ground, Lapis' water claw finally hit the floor; right on top of the murderer.

The ground shook so violently they could feel it right to their bones. The moment the water claw slammed into the ground, long fissures ran throughout every inch of the wet dirt and grass, reaching all the way into the deep shadows of the forest. And then, not even a second later, the water claw transformed into a massive tidal wave. The wave erupted from the spot the water claw had been and swept over the ground, easily as tall as the trees around them. Their eyes went wide as the wave rapidly approached them, and there was no way they could dodge it in-!

Lapis was suddenly behind them, grabbing them under their armpits as her water wings—formed in an instant—began to flap. After two flaps, they were rocketing upwards into the air at high speeds as rain pelted their skin so hard they had to close their eyes.

But they could still hear the sound of the massive wave swooshing through the ground and trees, even with the rain and thunder echoing in their ears.

"Steve—onnie. Stevonnie, are you okay?"

Slowly, they opened their eyes again. They saw Lapis looking down at them with a concerned expression, hair and clothes soaked from the rain as her wings continued to beat behind her.

"I-."

There was a cracking sound, and then they screamed; they didn't even have to look at their stomach to know that the cracks in their gem had just gotten deeper.

"Stevonnie!"

They were in so much pain that they could barely focus on Lapis' scream as they suddenly found themselves staring at purple. Lapis was gone, and they were now alone, floating in purple clouds; they felt themselves descending further and further into the thick clouds, pushed by some kind of invisible force until their vision went from purple to blue.

And they found themselves staring down at a ground of falling tiles and a pitch-black abyss. They saw Steven and Connie, even from so far up, bleeding onto the tiles even more so than before; they also saw that Steven's body was closer to Connie's, one hand outstretched, but still a few feet away from her. And while they were still alive, they could hear their friends' agony-ridden groans even from where they were, they knew Steven and Connie were even more pain than before. Cracks were spreading to the ground below their friends, and with every second they expanded as more and more tiles fell to the abyss—and somehow, it seemed to be  _growing._

They looked up. The crack they had seen before was now so large that it all but split the sky in two; with every second, bits of the sky fell into the black abyss—like the bricks from an old building finally succumbing to time and erosion. The purple gas that leaked from the gas was far denser than before, now like smog as it swirled everywhere around them; and the gas combined with the thick purple clouds already present in the air, a circular and twisting wall now heading towards what was left of the tiled ground and closing off any chance of escape.

What…what was happening to them?

Blood from the cracks in their body fell down to the abyss, bright red drop after bright red drop vanishing into a bottomless black.

Something was…hurting them; burning them. And not just them, Steven and Connie to. It wasn't just because they had been exploded, but…something else.

From the corner of their eye, they saw the purple smog once again grow, touching the blue sky as it slowly crept towards them.

Something…something was breaking them from within. And whatever it was, they knew it had to do with this purple gas.

The smog was now right on top of them, and they could do nothing but float; it slowly pulled them away from their inner world and into thick clouds of horrible purple.

It was like… _something_ else was with-.

They saw something.

In the swirling purple, something moved. Not even a few feet away from them, they saw something moving within the smog. It was gone in an instant, but they had still seen it.

They had seen a figured covered in shadows moving.

Their eyes suddenly went wide as their head whipped towards every direction. Their breaths came out in heavy gasps as they continued to search for whatever they just saw. They suddenly realized just how silent it was in the thick clouds of smog.

They were trembling slightly—and not because of their pain.

They suddenly realized just how vulnerable they were here, floating and having no idea what-.

They had no idea how, they had no idea when, but they suddenly felt something gripping the underside of their chin.

It felt like fingers.  _Gloved fingers._ Any breath left within them was gone. And then their head was yanked to the side by the fingers.

And they suddenly found themselves looking at terrifying pink eyes.

They screamed. And in an instant, they were out of the purple smog and back in the rain. But even though they were away from those awful pink eyes, their fear would not stop rising as their scream grew louder.

"Stevonnie!?"

Even with Lapis all but shouting in their ears, they still felt those gloved fingers grabbing them. They still felt trapped by something that wasn't even anywhere near them. They still felt terrified even though there wasn't anything here that should-.

A large orb of water slammed into their face—not hard enough to actually hurt them, but just enough to tilt their head back as they inhaled some of the water, causing them to cough violently.

"Sorry! Just—you're freaking out and I don't know how else to calm you down!"

Water spat from their mouth as they looked up at Lapis, expression embedded with even more worry than a moment ago.

"La…Lapis, something's wrong with me."

Lapis quickly looked them over.

"Yeah, no kidding."

"I don't…my Gem's only gonna get more cracked. And I don't…I can't fix it."

There was another cracking sound, not as loud as the last one but still enough to echo in the middle of the rain. They somehow bit back a scream as they felt more blood leaving their body. Slowly, they looked down and saw their gemstone littered with cracks, even deeper than the ones covering their stomach. They could barely see any parts of their pink Quartz gem without some kind of crack, small or big, on the surface.

"I…Lapis, I don't know what to do."

Their words weren't even louder than a whisper, but the  _terror_ they held screamed throughout every inch of their voice. They felt the fear within them consuming every part of their body, getting stronger and stronger with every moment as they trembled in Lapis' grasp.

They could suddenly see Peridot in front of them. They could see her cracked green skin and the horror in her eye; they could feel the heat from the explosion that consumed her.

And then all they could see was a cracked gemstone of what was once a person. Just burnt remains, and nothing more.

"I don't want to die."

Those words just came out of their mouth; it took them a moment to even realize what they had said.

Lapis didn't say anything, she only stared at them with wide eyes. Thunder rumbled in the dark storm clouds, white lights illuminating the sky as sparks jumped. For several moments, Lapis only flapped her wings and said nothing.

Then, they felt the fingers gripping them tighten.

"No…"

Lapis' voice was soft, but they still heard.

"Not you too…"

They heard the worry leaving her words.

"Not you."

They heard how hard her voice had become.

"I can't lose you."

Lapis fingers were all but digging into their skin.

"I won't lose you!"

And any traces of worry in her expression was gone, now nothing but a deadly-serious resolve in her blue eyes as she shouted.

"Not after everything you've done for me!"

Every word Lapis spoke was full of fire; she looked even more determined than when she and Steven tried to rescue Peridot.

"Do you hear me, you're not dying Ste-!"

They didn't hear whatever else Lapis said as lightning erupted from the clouds and struck the ground they had once stood on. Their eyes followed the bolt as a white light flashed over them and Lapis and the entire forest.

And within the white light, they saw something. As the light began to die down, from the ground, something came up. Something that spun through the air so fast the rain whirled off it; something long and sharp.

As more of the light died down, they could see what exactly was spiraling through the air.

And where it was heading.

Their eyes went wide.

"Lapis!"

Lapis' whipped towards them before she quickly followed their gaze.

And now they were both staring at the piece of wood—sharpened to the point where it looked like a javelin—heading right for them.

"Shit!"

Lapis was already moving as she screamed, they could hear her wings beating at high speed as they were suddenly flying to the left, just dodging the javelin-like piece of wood.

But not even a second later, the javelin erupted in a massive explosion. And they watched as orange flames burned their way through the air and right towards Lapis' back.

And then she screamed.

* * *

Alright…there were a few hiccups, but ultimately, she'd say that was a successful opening.

Sardonyx waved away the dust blinding her vision with three arms, the last one holding up her hammer as it rested on her left shoulder.

Admittedly, some things had gone awry. She could've done without the "water" hitting her right in her gorgeous face, but sometimes things get messy even in the most polished of performances; though, she was glad it was raining, it helped get rid of any remaining stains on her body. Besides, she was sure that her hammer had to have done some damage to that Gem, and if hurting this bub after everything he did wasn't an accomplishment, well, she'd hang up her tux.

Once the dust finally cleared, she looked down at the street and surveyed the damage her attack had done. And it had done quite a number. There was now a gigantic chasm in the street, almost half as big as the road itself; the underside of the street was now exposed to the world, shattered pipes hanging from the inner walls as the rain descended down the chasm and vanishing from sight.

The buildings weren't in any better shape. When her hammer slammed into the ground, it had yanked out huge chunks of the ground and sent them flying everywhere. And the buildings had caught the brunt of the damage; there were chunks of cement lodged deeply into several different buildings, making them even more unstable than they were before as debris fell every other second.

Yeesh. It was gonna take a bit of elbow grease to patch up this place.

Her four eyes glanced at the rest of the town, seeing the remaining smoke from several buildings still rising into the air. Seeing all of the houses that had been lit on fire and were now horribly burnt. And all the destruction that had been caused in so little time; like one of the battles during the War.

Multi-colored eyes lingered on her wrecked town for a moment before she slowly turned away with a deep frown.

...Okay,  _a lot_  of elbow grease. But, right now, she couldn't focus on that.

Her eyes narrowed at the ground as she carefully stepped over a small apartment-building and onto the street with the chasm.

Because right now, she needed to find the bub responsible for all of this; as well as the invisible buddy that tagged along with him.

Finding a wide enough space on the street, she crouched down until she was sitting on her legs—taking her hammer off her shoulder and placing it standing on the street—as her eyes scanned the road.

She didn't know exactly how effective her attack had been, the explosion of dust and concrete had made it impossible to see if she even hit the man head on, but there was no way either he or his invisible friend could've avoided her attack completely. She felt the shockwaves that rocked through the street, and probably parts of the town too, and had seen all the debris that had been launched into the air. She had put every bit of strength she had into her hammer.

So, there was no way anyone could walk away from her attack  _completely_ unscratched.

She got onto one knee and peered into one of the buildings, seeing nothing but burnt and damaged furniture. No signs of any people or gemstones anywhere.

Then again, she did still think the bub and his buddy were kicking even after all that. So really, it was hard to say just how effective her opening act had been.

But if the bub was around, she'd give him her a show he'd never forget.

She peered into the building right next to the first one, and she saw the exact same thing. She then turned the upper portion of her torso a full a hundred and eighty degrees; she now stared at the other side of the chasm, where she saw several piles of broken concrete and some flipped cars scattered along the road.

…Maybe the Gem had been sent flying and crashed over there?

With a big twist, her upper-body was once again properly aligned with the rest of her before she stood up, picking up her hammer with two hands and placing it back on her shoulder as she did so. And less than a second later, she jumped through the air, effortlessly making it over the chasm as she landed on the other side of the street.

* * *

He felt the road quake, and he had to hold back a scream as his body shook.

Damn it…this…this wasn't good.

In the darkness, Josuke let out very heavy breaths as he continued to clutch his arm.

At this rate…things wouldn't end well; for him, or this town.

As he continued to gasp, trying his best to keep his voice low, he heard the giant footsteps rocking the street; his body trembled even more than before as he had to bite his mouth shut to keep quiet.

* * *

Alrighty then, where exactly could this Gem be?

Sardonyx took a few step forward, hammer gripped tightly in her right pair of hands, and looked down at one of the piles of concrete and bricks. With a quick kick to its side, the pile was destroyed, spilling whatever was within it onto the curb behind it. There were only dirt and broken pieces of metal though, no gem whatsoever in sight.

* * *

Josuke heard rubble crashing against the street and even more echoing footsteps; and he knew that the giant alien was searching for him now. She didn't know where he was, but that could change very quickly. He needed a plan.

But…wha…what could he do?

He felt dizzy as the darkness around him somehow grew.

Crazy Diamond didn't have the power to match the orange-skinned giant, and with her speed, she could crush him in one blow if he risked getting closer. And…and…

The agonizing burn in his arm only got stronger; as did the dizziness inside his head.

And he'd been injured.

* * *

"Come out, come out, wherever you are…"

Sardonyx's voice was a mutter as she slowly walked towards the next pile. Another kick, and once again nothing was revealed but broken cement and the remains of a lamppost. But the bub had to be somewhere; perhaps hiding and waiting to strike or, hopefully, down for the count and poofed back into his Gem. But no matter which option it was, until she found the bub or his Gem, she would keep up her guard.

With a few steps, she was near the center of the road and towering over a sleek, blue car that had its top down; it also was somehow remarkably undamaged, with only a few spots of dirt and chinks here and there. And while there wasn't anything or anyone inside the car, underneath it….

* * *

Crazy Diamond had tried to get him out of the path of the javelin-like rubble; his Stand had grabbed and moved him as fast as it could. But while Crazy Diamond had made it so that he wouldn't get stabbed in the chest, he still got hit. Right in his left arm.

Well,  _through_ it, anyway.

He could feel the blood that soaked his gloves as he clenched harder at the spot where his flesh had once covered skin. And now there was nothing there but exposed muscles and bits of bone.

Shit…he could barely even feel his right arm anymore. And as more and more blood left his body, headache continuing to get worse, his breathing became erratic.

He was almost certain he was going into shock. If he didn't do anything to stop his bleeding soon, he wouldn't have to worry about fighting against a giant alien.

Because at this rate, he would be dead in twenty minutes.

With a shaky breath leaving his lips, he slowly closed his eyes and focused. It was incredibly hard to channel the energy within him, the pain constantly threatened to break his concentration, but he managed. Slowly, the air glittered—breaking the darkness with bright pink sparks—and Crazy Diamond materialized, floating above him as his Stand stared right into his face.

He needed to fix his arm as quickly as he could and stop the bleeding; no matter what method he had to use.

He took his hand off his wound before bringing it up to his mouth and biting into the leather glove covering it. Taking off the glove with his teeth, he bit down on it as hard. He then braced himself as he slowly spoke.

"Do…it."

His voice was almost inaudible, even quieter than the gasps he was releasing through his glove, but his Stand heard as it quickly ripped off multiple long strands from his jeans and doing the same to his scarf.

And then in an instant, his Stand's hands slammed into his injured arm as he let out a muffled scream.

* * *

"AHA!"

With a shout, Sardonyx lifted the car high into the air…and saw absolutely nothing beneath it. Frowning, she turned her head back to the car up and brought it to her face. Her fingers tried to open the trunk, but it was locked—which meant the bub couldn't have gotten in since the trunk locked from the outside. She slowly placed the car back onto the ground and looked around.

Dang it, where could the bub be?

* * *

For a moment it felt like Josuke was flying. The pain was gone and he felt his body being lifted up by some unseen force. His eyes started to close, and for a moment he felt like taking a long rest and enjoying his sudden flight.

But then Crazy Diamond slapped him across the cheek, and his eyes widened as he remembered where he was. The flying sensation was gone now and he quickly spat out the leather glove in his mouth, as well as a bit of blood, as he let out several long breaths. He couldn't see that well in the dark, but he did feel the pieces of cloth tied around his arm so tightly that if felt like the knots had been embedded into his skin. And the fact that he could feel and somewhat move his arm again meant that Crazy Diamond had set the bone back into its place.

He slowly turned his head towards his Stand, and then spoke.

"Thanks."

Crazy Diamond gave no response, it only continued to stare at him. He knew his Stand was waiting for more commands from him, but right now, he couldn't think of any.

"Damn it…how can we win?"

There was no response from his Stand.

What could he do? His Stand was weaker than the giant, and the pain, while less than before, made it incredibly hard to keep Crazy Diamond in existence. From just  _one blow,_ the alien had heavily injured him; and he hadn't even been hit head-on by the giant's attack.

Shit. This was easier when there was only two aliens to deal with.

It was starting to get uncomfortable laying on the somewhat wet floor, but there wasn't enough space to even sit up so he had no choice but to stay where he was.

What had those two even done? They send something about "fusing," so did that mean they had literally just combined and made a whole new being after doing a damn dance? Were they somehow inside that tuxedo-wearing alien? Was there any chance that they could be separated? Well, even if they could be, it wasn't like he knew of any ways to do-.

Wait a minute.

His eyes went wide. And he slowly moved his good arm towards his right pocket.

…Maybe he  _could_ separate the giant.

Once his fingers grasped the object he needed, he pulled his hand out of his pocket.

And in the darkness, Crazy Diamond now floating slightly to the right of him, he stared at the wet, somewhat torn cloth of blue ribbon he had taken from the peach-haired alien.

* * *

Sardonyx eyes were narrowed as her head and upper-torso swiveled left and right. The bub was good at hiding, she'd give him that. But there were only so many places he could've gone to.

She walked towards another pile of debris on the curve, hammer still on her shoulder as she gripped the handle tighter. It shouldn't be this hard to find him, the bub had a few seconds to find somewhere to hide at most so his options were limited. He had to be somewhere on the street.

She pulled her leg back and kicked at the pile.

If he wasn't then-.

She hit something, and it went flying out of the pile. It wasn't the gem, but something…familiar.

* * *

When it came to beings made of energy, Crazy Diamond could never revert them back into the state of energy they were born from; with the exception of Sheer Heart Attack, but that was due to special circumstances. There was always just this…barrier that his Stand's powers couldn't break no matter how much he focused. What exactly that barrier was, he didn't know; but it was always there. No matter what kind of Stand he fought, there was always  _something_ preventing him from using Crazy Diamond's reversion powers on it.

But now…

Josuke stared at the ribbon in his hands. And then his blue eyes slowly moved towards his Stand.

…now, things were different here. Here, there were aliens whose bodies went back into the rocks on their skin. A set of beings who had bodies made of energy that had a multitude of powers, but were also tied to a physical object. They might've been manifestations of energy, but since they had a corporeal base…

Maybe. Just maybe…

* * *

Sardonyx didn't quite know what exactly it was she kicked. She just been struck with a feeling—what kind she didn't know, only that it was intense and made her chest feel heavy—that she had seen this object before.

But it was only when the object hit the ground after flying through the air that she recognized it.

Jenny's car.

It was covered in dirt, the front windows had been shattered to pieces, there were dents everywhere—a particularly large one where she had kicked it—but it was unmistakably Jenny's car. She watched as the car skidded on the ground; sparks shot into the air against the rain, metal screeching until the car slowly came to a stop.

She couldn't take her eyes off the car that belonged to her friend.  _Their_ friend; who was dead.

* * *

Josuke watched as Crazy Diamond took the piece of cloth from his hands. His Stand then folded the ribbon into a ball before clenching it with its fist.

If this didn't work, he might be screwed.

* * *

Sardonyx wasn't sure when she had moved, but she was now standing over Jenny's wrecked car. She then slowly bent forward and reached for the car with her four arms.

Their friend was dead.

As gently as she could, she picked up the car with two of her hands.

Their friend was dead.

She brought the car to her face and stared.

How many did this make? How many of their friends' lives had they watch come to an end? If they counted the corrupted Gems, they were sure that number was somewhere in the thousands.

She no longer felt the rain pelting her body; or hear the thunder crackling in the sky. Everything around her began to fade away as she suddenly felt…numb.

* * *

A bright yellow aura surrounded Crazy Diamond's fist, fighting against the darkness that surrounded them, and Josuke felt nothing. He didn't feel the energy of another living being; he didn't see an image of the ivory alien in his mind.

The only thing that happened when Crazy Diamond's fist glowed yellow was that he started to feel numb.

He grit his teeth. Shit, his body was getting worse; and Crazy Diamond's ability wasn't working. Was it even possible to separate the giant with his Stand's powers?

It was too soon to give up. He had to try; this might just be his only way to win.

He focused even more on the energy within him, the yellow light growing larger with the second.

* * *

What were they even going to say to Jenny's family?

Sardonyx had lost track as to how long she had been holding Jenny's ruined car.

What  _could_ they say? What words could possibly be the right ones to let their friend's family know that the girl they had raised with love care was now dead?

The numbness she had been feeling was slowly fading, giving way to something else. Something that made her chest tighten to the point that it felt like it was caving in on itself.

How were they going to tell  _Steven_ this? How would he take losing yet another friend right after Peridot? How would he react knowing that…that…

She felt the tears building up in all four of her eyes.

That this was their fault _._

* * *

Damn it, come on…

Josuke continued to concentrate as the yellow light kept growing, but he still didn't feel or see the ivory alien.

Come on!

He clenched his eyes shut, he curled his hands into fists, despite the pain doing so caused, and grit his teeth as he focused with every fiber of his being.

But there was nothing. No connection had been formed between his Stand and the peach-haired alien.

He snarled, and it was only because he didn't want to risk revealing his location that he didn't scream a curse.

Fuck! God  _fucking_ damn it! What the hell was he supposed to do now!?

His chest suddenly felt heavy.

There were no other ways he could beat the giant woman! There were no other options he had left! Damn it!

His heart felt like it was getting clenched by sharp and piercing fingers.

He failed! Again! How could he keep failing!?

He felt tears falling from his eyes.

Why was he such a failure who couldn't even protect-!?

Wait a damn minute, was he  _crying?_

His eyes went wide as they shot open. He brought a hand up to his face, the one without the glove on, and touched his skin. And he felt the tears that were still descending down his face.

…What?

He slowly pulled his hand back and stared at the water on the tips of his fingers.

He was…crying. He was…sad.

Even more tears spilled from his eyes with every second.

But…this…didn't feel right.

His body felt cold, like he was suddenly swimming in an ocean at night. His limbs felt heavy, not just from exhaustion, but from the sorrow wrapping around them, dragging him deeper into the ocean. This submerging feeling was familiar…but it was different. It felt…deeper than he was used to; except for when he first discovered he was in a new world and perhaps a few times since then, he had never felt so sad that even moving was suddenly incredibly difficult like it felt right now. And even then, his sorrow never had this…age to it; like an old coat he had worn so many times before it was all but embedded into his skin. Even when he felt like an absolute failure, like he did right now, he didn't feel like he had experienced this misery a thousand times over.

It was like…this sorrow…this agony and despair…

Belonged to someone else.

His eyes widened ever further. He quickly whipped his head towards the ribbon in his Stand's hand.

"Does this mean…"

He spoke those three words in a breathless whisper. He then slowly looked up at his Stand's face.

And his jaw fell to the floor.

Crazy Diamond's abilities had worked. He was one hundred percent certain now. Somehow, his Stand had connected him to the ivory woman on an emotional level. How did he know this?

Because Crazy Diamond was currently crying.

* * *

Their fault.

Sardonyx body began to tremble

* * *

…What the hell?

Josuke stared at his Stand. His Stand, who was  _crying;_ he didn't even know Crazy Diamond could cry.

In the light of his Stand's fist, he saw Crazy Diamond slowly bring a hand underneath its eye—which were still covered in the shadows of its helmet, somehow. When its fingers touched the tears, his Stand pulled its hand back and stared, expression immersed with confusion.

…His Stand didn't even have any liquids inside it, how could it-?

No. Focus.

He shook his head. He had other things to worry about right now. Like making sure he beat the giant woman just outside.

His eyes settled on Crazy Diamond fist as he wiped away the tears on his face, Crazy Diamond quickly doing the same.

He had connected to the peach-haired alien. Now, it was time to see if he could bring her out of the tuxedo-wearing giant.

* * *

Their fault.

For a moment, the world around Sardonyx turned orange before just as quickly turning back.

* * *

Josuke let out a long breath, and Crazy Diamond clenched its fists even harder than before. He then focused, pushing away any stray thoughts as he concentrated only on the connection he felt. And as he concentrated, the connection grew stronger. Even more anguish and grief—for so many people, of that he was certain—consumed him as tears once again began to brim in his eyes.

But amidst the whirlpool of negative emotions, he felt something else.

* * *

Their fault.

Sardonyx hammer fell out of her grasp and crashed onto the street, the ground shaking from the impact as new cracks formed on the concrete.

And once again the world flickered with orange.

* * *

It was like Josuke was suddenly in front of a massive wall. Not a wall that stood in place and had solid shape, but one that seemed to shift and swirl, changing and always moving. He was still in the same dark, cramped space—yellow light slowly growing—yet he could feel the wall's presence towering over him like he was just a tiny speck.

And when he closed his eyes, he saw white.

* * *

Sardonyx grabbed her shoulders with her four hands as her trembling grew worse.

They kept failing, they kept failing, they. Kept. Failing! Why couldn't they do one thing right!? Why was it that every single time they tried to be better, they—no,  _she_ couldn't and would just keep letting down Rose!

As the world around her turned orange again, she saw that a few feet away from her was Pearl. Her elegant friend wasn't facing her; instead, Pearl faced the ground with her hands covering her face. But even with her back turned towards her, she could still see Pearl's tears hitting the orange-tinted floor.

_-earl!?_

Somewhere, a voice rang out. But she couldn't see where it came from.

All she could see right now was Pearl crying her eyes out as a storm of white butterflies fluttered everywhere.

* * *

Josuke was floating, somewhere, he didn't know where exactly, as he stared at ethereal, blinding white light—there was nothing else here but the light; no floors, ceilings or any kind of walls. Just a dazzling white that he couldn't take his eyes off of. He didn't know where exactly he was, but at the same time, this place felt familiar; like he had been here so many times before.

And now, staring at the white light, his body no longer cut up or even having a single injury present, made him feel comfortable. Like, this place was where he could…belong.

He wasn't sure how long he stared at the light but he felt like he could do so for days. Honestly, he wouldn't really mind staying here for-.

Something grabbed his shoulder. He blinked several times before shaking his head as he turned around. Floating behind him, Crazy Diamond had its hand on his left shoulder, expression grave as it glanced around. And…did his Stand look different?

He narrowed his eyes. His Stand's body was the same, its headgear and armor was the same, but there was  _something_ different about Crazy-.

Wait.

Were his Stand eyes…yellow?

He blinked. It took him a moment, but he realized that yes, his Stand eye color had changed from cobalt blue to lemon yellow.

The same color as the aura that surrounded Crazy Diamond when it activated its reversion abilit-.

His eyes widened. And he once again looked around, this time making sure to fight the comfortable sensation this place radiated. He knew he never canceled his Stand's powers, so did that mean...

"Am I…"

His head slowly turned towards his Stand.

"Are we… _inside_ that alien?"

Crazy Diamond didn't reply. All it did was glance around with its yellow eyes, slowly floating closer to him as it clenched its fists.

Alright. So, right now, considering he couldn't think of any other explanation, it was rather likely that he was  _somehow_ inside the very core of ivory woman's body—or one of the aliens, since they had both combined into one person—and was currently looking at the very energy that made up her body.

He let out a long breath.

Okay. Okay. He could handle this. This was raising a lot of questions, but right now, he needed to stay calm and focus. He had been trying to use the connection between himself and the ballerina-like alien to disrupt her "fusion," but it looked like the reverse had happened. But that didn't mean he couldn't find some way-.

He heard something moving through the air behind him; it was easy to hear because of the silence that stretched everywhere. As the sound steadily grew louder, both he and Crazy Diamond turned around and saw something coming from deep within the space of white, there was a…tornado?

Wait, no, that wasn't it. While he was staring at something that moved like the wind and was just as swift, when he narrowed his eyes, he could tell that whatever was coming wasn't just one object. It was more like a spiraling mass; hundreds of… _things_ all swirling in the same pattern and giving it the appearance of a white storm of wind.

He quickly closed his eyes, and when he opened them, Crazy Diamond's vision became his own. With his eyesight greatly enhanced, he could now see just what the mass of white was made of.

Butterflies. Thousands of them.

Well, the things he saw were  _shaped_ like butterflies. From their tiny wings to their slim bodies, they almost looked exactly like normal butterflies, with one exception. The "butterflies" were made entirely of light—with each flap of their wings, they gleamed and made the air shimmer with an almost spiritual glow. It wasn't quite the same light that surrounded him—the light that made up the butterflies was…sharper, less bright and more solid—but he knew it was similar. He didn't know how he knew this, but something was telling him that these butterflies, while related to the whatever energy was surrounding him, wasn't exactly the same as-.

His eyes widened as he realized the butterflies were flying right towards him. Shit! He needed to move before-!

Almost instantly, the storm of butterflies was only a few feet away from him. They had been so far below him only seconds before, but their speed had greatly increased in a second.

And now there was no time to dodge. Crazy Diamond quickly moved right in front of him, crossing its arms as it stood to protect him.

And then he saw nothing but fluttering wings of light.

* * *

Sardonyx was weeping, a glow starting to emerge from her forehead as she felt her body grow numb. Around her, the white butterflies soared in the orange streets and sky; no matter where she looked, all she could see were fluttering lights of white.

But even with the butterflies flying around her, she could still make out Pearl sobbing only a few feet away.

_Pearl!?_

Somewhere, that voice from before shouted again, this time even louder. But she could barely hear what is said as thoughts that she knew weren't her own ran rampant in her head, shouting the same things over and over again.

And as more butterflies emerged into existence, some started to swarm at one spot high above her in the sky.

* * *

When the butterflies hit Josuke, both he and his Stand didn't feel any pain. The butterflies themselves were lighter than air, and when they actually made contact with his or Crazy Diamond's skin, he didn't even feel a prick from the impact; the butterflies then shook from their crash, slightly disorganized now before continuing to fly on their path. Once the swirling white mass of insect-like creatures moved passed him, he stood still.

And once again, he felt thick tears descending down his face. Because while the butterflies didn't even leave a scratch, what they carried was worse than any physical blow.

 _Why can't I protect_ anyone!?

_Why can't I be better!?_

_Why am I like this!?_

_I'm less than nothing!_

She  _was wrong about me!_

He  _was completely right!_

He felt like he was drowning as he  _felt_ the memories from every word suddenly blaring throughout his head. When the butterflies hit him, he could hear nothing but an anguish-filled voice that was not his own screaming within his head; and the voice just kept repeating the similar things a hundred times over in his head, each time revisiting horrible memories that flashed within his mind so quickly he could barely make them out.

He didn't know when—or why—but at some point, he had placed both of his hands over his mouth as his body trembled, heart all but exploding in his chest. The grief he had just felt was some of the most intense emotion he had ever felt in his life.

Pearl, the woman these emotions belonged to, the butterflies all but screamed that as well as her name, was currently going through her own personal  _Hell._ Because she had once again failed to save someone she cared for. Because Kira was still alive and had killed one of the people close to her.

Because of him, an innocent woman was experiencing the worse feelings known to man. Because he couldn't fucking do his job, someone else had died. He was a failure. An absolute pathetic excuse for a man who shouldn't even be alive to-!

He didn't know when, but his Stand had grabbed him by the arms and was shaking him with vigor. There were tears descending down his Stand's face, but its eyes still had the same steely resolve as always. The resolve that was born from his own fighting spirit.

The resolve to never give up.

He blinked. And then, he clenched his eyes shut and shook his head, wiping away at the tears with his jacket's sleeve.

"Right. Right."

He let out several shaky breaths as he forced himself to get his shaking under control.

"Almost forgot."

He sniffled slightly as his heart beats began to go back to normal.

"We have to win."

His voice was full of sorrow as he spoke, but with every word, it slowly faded. As he finished wiping away at his eyes, he looked back at his Stand and saw it was doing the same.

"We have to stop Kira."

His Stand's face was now void of any tears as it stared at him with a determined expression; just like he knew his own was.

"And to do that, we have to fight these women."

Because of his failures, he had caused Pearl so much grief—and most likely, her friends as well. He didn't want to fight, especially after feeling every horrible emotion Pearl was feeling that was his fault, but words wouldn't work to convince them he wasn't the enemy.

So, he had to beat them; it would be an even shittier thing to do now that he knew the pain Pearl was suffering through, but there were no other options. And to beat them, he first had to beat this giant Fusion.

Slowly, he looked up. The white tornado of butterflies that passed him were still flying up, still so close together and still so perfectly synched with each other's movements. With every second, the butterflies sped up as their formations seemed to get even tighter.

And…he didn't know why, but something was telling him that these butterflies could help. That somehow, they held the key to getting Pearl out of her Fusion and-.

The thousands of butterflies had suddenly gone rigidly still, their intense fluttering abruptly stopping. And once again, somehow, he  _knew_ why they had stopped. There was something within his chest, an instinct that hadn't been there seconds before, whispering to him that these butterflies were…waiting for-.

The ethereal white lights around him changed. Before, the lights surrounding him had no form; they were just…there, like the air, as they bathed the space they occupied with their glow. But now, he saw the lights start to become more solid, like the butterflies above him. The white lights suddenly had a definable shape, gaining the lines of a three-dimensional object, and he now found himself staring at walls made of light; when he looked down, he even saw that there was floor of equally white light far down below.

And then, the lights instantly became blue as an orange beacon erupted above him.

* * *

The light around Sardonyx grew stronger as she collapsed to her knees, fingers now digging deeply into the skin of her forearms.

First Peridot, now Jenny! Who was next!? Whose life was her own ineptitude going to cost next!?

More and more butterflies were appearing everywhere, and with just a blink, about a hundred would flutter right around her face before flying off who knows where. And through the clouds of fluttering wings, she could see the orange sky above. And the hundreds of butterflies that were forming a large, white ball of light.

Everything she did was just useless!

The ball got bigger, hundreds of butterflies traveling up into in spirals of pure white to join with it.

_Pearl!?_

She couldn't even do one thing right!

The ball got even bigger, as did the glow quickly surrounding her body.

_PEARL!?_

Why…what did Rose ever see in me!?

The ball of butterflies started to take shape into something else.

* * *

The once white lights were now a deep shade of blue that boxed him in from all sides. The comforting sensation this space had once radiated was replaced by a cold sorrow that pierced the air and made it ice-cold. And high above, there was now a massive oval ceiling of pure orange light. Beacons of orange came from the ceiling and shimmered along with the cold glow of the blue walls.

But Josuke only continued to stare at the crowd of butterflies that had stopped moving a few dozen feet away from the orange ceiling. Because he now knew for certain they were waiting for something. Crazy Diamond's eyes became his own as he waited for the creatures of light to make their move.

Several seconds passed, and nothing happened. He could feel the air grow colder as the sorrow now radiating everywhere began to grip him. But he only focused on the butterflies, ignoring the sadness and waiting for-.

One of the butterflies moved. From the tip of the butterflies' formation, one began to flutter its wings towards the orange light. And after several flaps, it touched the ceiling.

And then, it's body began to shimmer. With Crazy Diamond's vision, he could see the butterflies' body actually deconstruct bit by bit, vanishing into the oval-shaped orange light. But even as they began to disappear, its light did not dimmer, it only got even brighter as a white light erupted within the world of orange and blue.

And then, slowly, the light vanished. The butterfly was gone, and the rest of the butterflies still stood still.

But then two more floated towards the orange ceiling. And three more after that. And even more after that.

He watched as more white lights shined within the now enclosed space and more butterflies vanished; just before new butterflies took almost the exact same spot on the orange light and the process repeated. And as he stared, he felt something within his chest start to rise. It was the same instinct that had told him the butterflies were waiting for something; the instinct he knew he hadn't had before but somehow gained.

And it was telling him that the orange light could lead him right to Pearl. That it was  _connected_ to Pearl's very Gem.

He slowly turned his head towards his Stand, staring right into its now yellow eyes before looking down at its hands. He then turned back to the massive crowd of butterflies that led straight to the orange light. And then he spoke in a low, practically inaudible voice.

"Let's do this."

This was gonna suck, in more than one ways, but he needed to do this.

He looked back at his Stand, and nodded his head. Crazy Diamond then grabbed by the back of his jacket with one arm.

And then his Stand pulled its arm back, fingers tightening around his jacket, and hurled him like a baseball up towards the butterflies.

" _ **DORA!"**_

* * *

_Pearl, please-!_

Sardonyx knew she should care about what the voice was saying, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't. She could only stare at the swarms of butterflies and the ball of white light that was slowly morphing into something.

He was right. Steven couldn't have been more right about her!

As those thoughts that belonged to her friend continued to shout in her mind, she saw multiple spirals of white butterflies extending from the massive ball's sides. And then spirals started to change color.

They started to turn pink.

* * *

Josuke was flying through the air uncontrollably, his body spinning in every direction. He quickly called Crazy Diamond and had it right himself, now standing upright as his momentum continued to send him higher into the air.

And now that he wasn't flailing uncontrollably, he could see he was only a few feet away from crashing into the tightly gathered mass of butterflies.

He let out a breath and braced himself, Crazy Diamond suddenly right in front of him with its arms crossed.

And then they both crashed right through the swarms of butterflies. And as he flew through the mass of white with no resistance, the butterflies hitting his and Crazy Diamond's skin but not dying from the high-speed impact, he saw the orange light of the ceiling getting stronger.

All while he was again felt grief consume him like a tsunami as an anguished-riden voice screamed in his head.

_I was never good enough!_

_Never strong enough!_

There were tears in his eyes now. And the light grew brighter.

_Why was I made to be so pathetic!?_

_Why couldn't I just be useful for once!?_

He felt like his heart had been pierced by damn icicles as his breathing grew erratic. He felt like his own body was about crumble away from the sheer amount of despair within it, but he grit his teeth and focused only on getting away from these damn butterflies.

The orange light was not so strong that it was getting hard to see; he had to shift to Crazy Diamond's vision just to keep his eyes open.

_I know what's wrong with me, but I can't fix it!_

He could see the very end of the butterflies now.

_I'm nothing!_

_Nothing!_

_NOTHING!_

_AM I EVEN DIFFERENT THAN THE PEARL THAT SERVERED—!_

He jettisoned right out of the swarm of butterflies and he felt like he could breathe again. The sorrow and despair faded away as he rapidly approached the orange light.

And then he slammed face first into what felt like a God damn steel wall.

* * *

Sardonyx numbly watched as the butterflies flying became hasty, less organized and far more hectic as more and more were illuminated into existence.

And as the spirals on the ball of butterflies finished their transformation, now no longer butterflies and instead very curly pink hair.

Pathetic! That was all she was! That was all she was ever meant to be!

The ball's face started to shift and shimmer, losing its white light as dull-peach skin emerged to take its place.

The glow on her body was practically covering every inch of her.

She couldn't ever be the person she wanted to be! She was just…broken!

Half of the ball's white light was gone now as more skin appeared, and slowly, eyes, nose, and lips began to form, and she started to see a face. A familiar, agonizing face that seemed to make even more butterflies appear.

She was just…toxic and-.

The voice from before rang out again. But this time it sounded…different.

" _Take a moment remind yourself.."_

The voice now sounded…softer; even though it was loud, there was no way she could mistake the way the voice carefully, kindly, in fact, spoke each word.

" _To take a moment and find yourself…"_

This was…familiar. These words were…comforting.

" _Take a moment and ask yourself…"_

She saw that Pearl had stopped trembling.

" _If this is how we fall apart?"_

The words—no, lyrics were slower than she had heard before, but they were still the same. They were what she—not just Pearl, but also  _herself_ —repeated when she had bad days.

" _Things that you said, are suddenly swarming…"_

They always made her feel…warm. They reminded her what it meant to be a show-stopping Fusion. To not to let her sadness or fear distract her from doing her duties and what she loved. After all, what kind of MC would she be if in the middle of a performance she burst out crying?

" _But it's not, but it's not…"_

There had been days—during the war and after Rose left them—when it was hard to be happy. When it was hard to even think about anything other than sorrow. But she  _always_ persevered _._ She never focused on the things that were beyond her control and instead, focused on what she  _could_ do right now that would make her smile. And most of the time, what made her smile was just listening to the sweet laughs her friends made as they watched her perform.

" _It's okay…It's okay…"_

She would never let pesky little things like despair and hopelessness make her stop being the lovely Sardonyx.

At some point, the butterflies had disappeared. At some point, the numbness and glow had stopped gripping her body.

And at some point, Garnet—who had always been there—was hugging Pearl right below her feet as the world started to fade back from orange to grey of the rain clouds.

* * *

Okay…he should've thought this through more.

Josuke coughed as he slowly removed his head from the orange light—which was a lot more solid then he first thought. The butterflies were gone now, and he also noticed that orange light was beginning to fade away. His eyes widened as he quickly pressed his hands firmly of what was left of the light.

But, he had expected something like this to happen. Which was why Crazy Diamond's arms were already overlaid with his own.

He took a deep breath, and focused.

His palms grew bright yellow. And at first nothing happened.

But then the blue walls around him began to wave and twist like grass in a storm.

The orange light began to expand until it was three times bigger than before.

And in an instant, everything suddenly turned into some shade of yellow similar to the one that surrounded him.

And then he vanished.

* * *

_I..I'm so sorry._

Sardonyx stared at the still crying Pearl with a sympathetic expression. Really, the poor girl blamed herself way too much for things. It was why she wasn't  _too_ peeved when she found out what Pearl was doing in order to get Garnet to fuse with her. Her friend always thought she wasn't glorious when she was probably one of the strongest people she knew.

Almost every bit of the orange glint was gone now, the only places left was where she and the rest of the Gems stood.

_I…I didn't-._

And then…something went wrong. She kinda felt it before it actually happened.

The orange glow had almost instantly returned.

Pearl and Garnet broke away from the hug as they stared.

And then from within Pearl oval-shaped Gem, bright yellow sparks began to emerge.

_Wha-what the-!?_

Pearl never finished as a column of bright yellow shot from her Gem and crashed into the orange sky.

_To Be Continued~_


End file.
